OnDeck Charleston Comments |
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| Date Submitted: | September 1, 2010 |
| Sailing School: | OnDeck Charleston |
| Location: | SC - Charleston, United States |
| Classes & Instruction: | 10 out of 10 |
| School Facilities: | 10 out of 10 |
| Accomodation: | 10 out of 10 |
| Cost & Expense: | 10 out of 10 |
| Recommend: | Yes |
| Review: | US Sailing Coastal Nav Review This is simply a great sailing school! This is the 3rd course I've taken from the US Sailing series with OSA, and so I've had the pleasure of learning from several of their instructors, each of which was extremely knowledgeable and experienced in all aspects of blue-water sailing. All of them had deep professional and personal sailing experience, and easily shared their experience, which is the kind of training supplement that you just don't get anywhere else but from modern, seasoned sailors. They were all fun to be with as well, which made the overall learning experience as fun as any other vacation I've taken. As I was driving down to Charleston to take this course, the Registrar called me and told me that the other student signed up had to back out at the last minute, and asked if I could possibly schedule their next session instead. I could not back out of my current arrangements, and so OSA proceeded with the class, even though it was probably not profitable for them to teach me 1 on 1 for the class price. I am grateful to the school for allowing me to take the course as planned, and I wanted to share this as example of how fair and customer-oriented OSA is in it's business affairs. These days it is refreshing to see s small business still willing to go to this length to retain and satisfy student customers! On the 4th day of the course, I was pleased that my instructor accepted the sail plan I developed the night before, taking us through a gap in the Jetty called Dynamite Hole, using the skills I had just learned in the lecture portion. We had a narrow zone between danger bearings coming south out of Dynamite Hole, and after steering the course for about 25 min. I took 3 visual fixes and plotted our position dead-on the course line we were steering. One of the greatest new abilities I've taken away from this course is the ability to sail knowing exactly where good water is around me at all times, based on my new charting, plotting, planning skills. That evening, around dusk, we were approached by a large, dark line of thunder clouds (that's cumulus nimbus tu us) while entering the inlet to North Edisto R. My instinct was to reef the main and be ready to reduce the genoa as needed. My instructor's instinct was to start the engine and furl sails completey. And when the squall hit us, the rain was thick and horizontal, blowing right into our eyes as we strained to see markers which would guide us into the inlet safely. Our mast head read wind gusts of 30 kts! Lightning struck all around our area, with one or two strikes surprising us with no warning between flash and boom! And when it passed 25 min. later, leaving behind calm, foggy water in the waning light, I realized that it may have been unmanageable for 2 people to navigate, steer and line-handle; and I saw the wisdom in my instructor's call: eliminate line-handling so we can focus on steering and seeing while entering a channel in horizontal rain. I could not have asked for more than this from a sailing course! A "training" squall! How cool! I'll definitely be back here in the following summers to learn and qualify for US Sailing's Passage-Making courses. Thanks again to OSA Instructors Sterling, Mallery, Scott and Frank for the fine instruction and friendship you have given me. Thanks to you I sail today with much greater confidence and range; and each hour I've spent with you has brought my retirement dream of sailing cruiser ownership and blue-water sailing closer to reality. |
| Submitted by: | KurtF 46 year-old :: Male Reviewer :: Oxford, NC |
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