What's New

Offering Basic Keelboat 101 and Sailing Club Program...learn more - click here

The Marco Review January/February 2002

Sail Marco

Close your eyes and imagine .... You’re all alone, bright sunlight sparkles on pristine waters. A warm wind rushes through your hair. The only sound is the rustle of the pure white sail etched against the bright blue sky arching high above you..... Yes - you’re sailing!

Isn’t that something you’ve always dreamed of? and isn’t Marco Island just the perfect place to do it? Well now, with the advent of "Sail Marco", that dream could easily become a reality.

Learn to Sail

The newly opened "Sail Marco" is a sailing club with a difference. It offers instruction: ASA Basic Keel Boat Certification, or ASA Cruising & Bare Boat Certification - by the hour or by the course and Blaine Davis, instructor and co-owner of parent company Kahuna Sea Excursions, says that with as little as two days of instruction, he should be able to teach you enough to allow you to safely sail solo.

And, best of all, for a very reasonable six monthly or annual subscription to the club your membership would entitle you to access to their fleet of Ideal 18 racing keelboats. The sail boats can be reserved one week in advance and if they aren’t booked by another member you can use them as often as you wish.

Just imagine that... all the fun of sailing without the expense and time consuming maintenance of ownership!

If you’re a previously experienced sailor after a short trip with an instructor (to prove you can do what you say you can) you can rent by the hour or join the club and take out one of the keel boats whenever you like, so long as it isn’t previously booked.

Safety & Speed

Ideal 18 sailboats are easy to sail alone but roomy enough to comfortably take up to four adults and they’re extremely safe - "the 700 pound lead keel on such a light boat makes them almost impossible to capsize" says Blaine. And they’re fast, so if you’re competitive by nature you’ll also want to join in the frequently run club races.

...LEARN TO SAIL WITH MARCO’S
MOST EXCITING NEW CLUB
                                                               by Nikki Barker

On a beautiful breezy Sunday morning recently Blaine Davis of "Sail Marco" took me for my first sailing lesson in an Ideal 18 keelboat. The instruction started as we walked through Marco River Marina to the boat and within minutes I had absorbed many basic sailing terms.

Blaine was a patient and sensitive teacher who explained what he was asking me to do so I understood rather than just followed instructions. As he said, it was like driving a car - there was so much information to take in at first but by the end of our hour’s lesson I was already beginning to do things automatically.

When we got out into the river and the wind filled our sails it was incredibly exhilarating. I couldn’t believe I was controlling this beautiful boat as it sped through the glinting waters.

I can’t wait until I come back to Marco for my next lesson!

For more details call 642-7704