The greatest advantage of sailing on Glory is the flexibility of every charter. Usually there is one couple. There are not two or four other people who you have never met and may not get along with. Instruction is far more personalized, with no waiting for laggards.

You may never have been aboard a boat, and don't know the pointy end from the blunt. You may know a lot about some things, and very little about others and want to fill up or round out your experience. We'll cover terms, parts of the boat and rig, the engine; rules of the road (who has the right of way, and why); knots; tacking, gybing, and all the points of sail; anchoring; coming to a dock, and leaving; charts, what they show and how to use them; reefing sails in heavy winds; picking up a person overboard.

There's time to snorkel, and learn if you don't know how; hike, bird watch, beach comb, take island tours, read and relax. It's a time to learn what boats and boating/cruising are all about. To come to like it, not have it jammed down your throat. Meals are included as stated elsewhere, and you can have a wonderful vacation and learn some or all of what you always wanted without having to learn to cook and wash dishes aboard.

More of the same mentioned above, but in more depth. If you had a good Beginner's course elsewhere, you can expand upon that now, probably in a larger boat, and the focus can be flexible so you keep liking it.

This is not a course to get you a Coast Guard Masters License, nor will you be qualified to start a trip around the world.  But you'll do more actual sailing in a week in the Virgins than you will in a month in the Chesapeake or Florida.

If you pass, you will have the minimum knowledge and skill to be able to handle a boat in the 30-35 foot range (most likely), safely and in reasonable weather, generally with another person or another couple. Just as you would not want a just licensed new driver to go out in a big truck in blustery winds with sheet ice on mountainous roads, or heavy snow, deep mud, or New York City freeways on his first solo drive!, it is a mistake to make a first bareboat trip in too large a boat. Because you want everyone to be "comfortable," and have some "privacy," or it's "CHEAPER" when you split it six or eight ways. Get some sensible experience built up first. Because I won't be there to bail you out! And no one will go with you a second time after you've screamed at them all week the first time. Except your wife. She won't go after the second week. Nevvver......eeeeevvvver!!! Bigger is a disaster.

Everything above will be in more depth, and your performance level will be higher. There will be less snorkeling, birdwatching and all the other stuff, because a defined goal is to be reached and there's only so much time to do it in.

Five knots; bowline, square knot, figure eight, clove hitch and cleat hitch. Where to use them and where not to!!!

Anchoring; 5:1 scope including the height of the topsides, the Bahama moor and modifications; Med mooring. Do it right and get some sleep!!

Parts of the boat, sails, rig in general; rigging and unrigging.

All points of sail performed fluidly as well as tacking and gybing.

Reefing and unreefing.

Sailing in or out of an anchorage.

Close quarter maneuvering under power. You should be able to hold the boat in a rectangular space, 2 or 3 times the length and width of the boat, for 15 minutes (it will seem like hours!), head to wind; turn it in nearly its own length and back to windward. THEN you will have the confidence to approach a mooring or dock, for water, fuel or the evening, and know what to do if you have to wait for someone to get out of your way, or "Oh God, what if I miss?".

Man overboard drill. Finding him is one thing, getting alongside and THEN aboard, is something else. No one goes overboard for this test.

Handling the dinghy and outboard.

Chart reading, course plotting.

Fixing your position with the hand bearing compass.

Rules of the Road, power and sail.

This is a difficult thing to do in eight days. Anyone who tells you they can certify you in three days or even five days is certifiable. They need your cash flow! There is a lot to know and perform well, because other people are putting their faith (and limbs) in you. There is no written test. Bareboating is not a classroom situation to puzzle out a problem that is happening faster than you can hardly think and sip your coffee while you decide to mark a,b,c or d. Bareboating is performing in different, real, circumstances. And this course is all practical; you are being tested every day and every day getting better. It is not the rule to pass this without good experience beforehand. It has taken some people additional time, and they are the first to realize there is more to doing this safely than they may have been lead to believe. Frankly, I don't want you dragging all over the anchorage and banging into ME some night! But it is do-able and we will often be able to learn from what others appear to be not doing so well!

What was that commercial? "It don't say Hanes until I say it says Hanes!"