Offshore Passage Making OSS 108— Advanced Blue Water Sailing Certification
OFFSHORE PASSAGE MAKING TAKES YOU OUT TO SEA
Even if you live within sight of the sea, it is easy to forget that our world is mostly water. The open ocean – that vast expanse of international waters – begins just a few miles out and spreads across three-quarters of the globe. For those desiring blue water sailing after receiving your Coastal Passage Making Certification, it’s time to get out of sight of land while learning in the ultimate blue water sailing school environment. If you’re new to passage-making, check out our Fast Track® to Passage-Making Course first.
THE FINAL COURSE IN THE US SAILING CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
This Offshore Passage Making Course OSS 108 is the most advanced blue water sailing certification course for experienced sailors who want to build skills, knowledge, and confidence in preparation for long passages in open waters. Offshore Sailing School is very conscious of your safety aboard, and requires that two U.S. Coast Guard licensed instructors are always aboard. Passage-making instructors are certified at the highest US Sailing instructor certification level to teach Offshore passage-making courses.
OSS 107/108 – THE ULTIMATE BLUE WATER SAILING SCHOOL EXPERIENCE
Fast Track® to Offshore Passage Making starts with a five-day Celestial Navigation course. While learning the art of navigating by sun, moon, planet, and stars, you stay ashore at the resort. Then, you board our Jeanneau 440 cruising yacht and set sail, practicing all those Celestial Navigation skills you mastered in the first part of this blue-water sailing course. Click here for a description of the Celestial Navigation course.
Book Now!
888-454-7015 or 239-454-1700
Sail@OffshoreSailing.com
UNDER SAIL ON A PASSAGE OUT AT SEA
The Offshore Passage Making Course is six days of mostly non-stop sailing. In this 
blue water sailing certification course, your journey takes you out to sea, logging 600 miles (at least 250 of which are 50 miles away from shore) before you return to base on the sixth day of your trip.
You learn with a maximum of five other students, divided into two watches working in four-hour shifts, each watch led by an instructor as watch captain. You will not have a private berth as you rotate between watch shifts. Each watch is in charge while “on” – crewing, navigating, steering, covering everything necessary for successful journeys on your own.
This course fills quickly. You may put your name on our Passage Making Wait List for the next Fast Track® to Offshore Passage Making course. During the Celestial Navigation course, you stay ashore at ‘Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa.
888-454-7015 or 239-454-1700
Sail@OffshoreSailing.com
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Here is what you learn in the onboard Offshore Passage Making Course.
- General plan for 600-mile ocean passage
- Provisioning and galley duty plan
- Comprehensive check of vessel, rig, equipment
- Watch schedule and duty roster
- Determine long-range weather forecast
- Celestial navigation techniques
- Ship’s log entries in a timely fashion
- SSB radio use
- Helmsman skill review and practice
- Safety on deck, jacklines, sail changing, avoiding bight of lines, leeward of boom
- Safety below, storage for knockdowns, galley spills
- Heavy weather sailing, actual or simulated
- Reefing, drogues, sea anchors, storm sails
- Crew overboard recovery systems – Quick Stop, LifeSling, Quick Turn
- Practice crew overboard recovery in daylight, night, and adverse conditions
- Simulate life raft deployment
- Plan for simulated fire, water intake, dismasting or other disasters
- Simulate plan for a medical emergency
Prerequisites for Fast Track® to Offshore Passage Making Course: All lower US Sailing certification levels, including Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, Bareboat Cruising, Coastal Navigation, and Coastal Passage Making required; or sailing skills equal to Offshore Sailing School Fast Track® to Coastal Passage Making Course, including Coastal Navigation if certification is not desired; plus valid US Sailing recognized CPR and First Aid Certification.
Certification: US Sailing Offshore Passage Making for Offshore Passage Making Course
Offshore Passage Making package includes:
- Offshore Passage Making Course (Monday through Saturday morning)
- Five nights/six days of sailing on a yacht up to 50’
- Two expert Offshore Sailing School instructors aboard throughout the passage
- All books and materials
- All meals aboard Monday through Saturday morning
- Cruising taxes, if applicable
- US Sailing Certification Testing for Offshore Passage Making
- Logbook (or page for logbook if you have taken other Offshore Sailing School certification courses)
- Course Diploma
- Graduation celebration
- Certification sticker for logbook sent from US Sailing after the course if you pass certification test
- Exclusive benefit from The Sailing Company – your choice of a year’s subscription to Cruising World or Sailing World magazine (US mailing addresses only)
Call 888-454-7015 for course dates and rates. Just 6 spots are available in the Fast Track® to Offshore Passage Making course (8 in the shore-based Celestial Navigation Course if that’s all you want to take). The passage itinerary is presented at course start and may change as it progresses. FTOPM is the complete Fast Track® to Offshore Passage Making course, including Celestial Navigation the first five days and nights. OPM only is the Offshore Passage Making portion of the course (6 days/6 nights). Cabins are shared, not sold as “private.” The group is split into two “watches,” one watch “on” and the other “off” on set schedules. This course is offered only at ‘Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa on Captive Island, FL. Since disembarkation times may change, consider flight departures the day after you return to the marina.
Celestial Navigation Course Schedule
Wednesday-Saturday
9am-noon – Classroom lecture and exercises
Noon-1pm – Lunch break
1pm- 5pm – Classroom lecture and exercises
Sunday
9am-noon – Classroom lecture and exercises
Noon-1pm – Lunch break
1pm- 5pm – Celestial Navigation Certification Test
Offshore Passage Making Course Schedule
Monday
9am – Meet at boat on-H Dock, move aboard
Get boat ready for sea, safety briefing and boat show, complete pre-departure check list
Mid-morning or when ready – set sail, boat familiarization drills on the way out to sea
Tuesday – Friday
Sunrise to sundown – Sailing instruction 24 hours per day; sail overnight; all meals prepared underway
Saturday
8am – Boat clean up before final sail
Noon – Return boat to ‘Tween Waters Marina; graduation “ceremony,” stay ashore at ‘Tween Waters Island Resort & Spa or depart for home
What our graduates have to say about the Offshore Sailing School Offshore Passage Making course:
Great course. More work than the other courses I have taken, but more rewarding too. The instructors were excellent, they make the course. Overall, this course was a great experience.
Thomas Grier – Dallas, TX
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