Womanship 368
Now in its 25th year, Womanship offers opportunities for women of all ages and their families to learn beginning through advanced sailing skills while also enjoying a captivating cruising destination either in a U.S. coastal location or around the world.
“Our students can choose from many sailing playgrounds,” says Suzanne Pogell, the founder of Womanship, “depending on when and where you want to spend your learning ‘sailcation.'”
Included among its extensive 2009-2010 courses are the Young Womanship program for 7th to 12th graders; Individual Couples Afloat; Mothers and Daughters and Families; and Team and Leadership Building for social groups and corporations.
Womanship also offers courses that fit the needs of bareboat cruisers, beginners to near-skippers aboard their own boats, and bluewater passagemakers. For details, contact the company (800-267-6661, www.womanship.com).
More for Women: Flotillas in the B.V.I. and the Med
Veteran sailors Tania Aebi and Jill London are leading flotillas in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean in 2010. Trips include a week in the British Virgin Islands (January 23-30, 2010) and two weeks off Turkey and Greece (May 22-June 5, 2010).
The experienced business and sailing partners have arranged these flotillas over the last 16 years to offer worldwide travel by sailboat to women who need a vacation from their lives.
For details, contact Aebi (802-439-6731; e-mail tania@sover.net) or London (440-247-2440; e-mail jill_london@hotmail.com). Watch video of the 2008 flotilla sailing in French Polynesia at YouTube (www.youtube.com/watch?v=83wgBrHIz7E).
ETAP Fall Passage Program
The ETAP 37s, named Best Production Cruising Boat in CW’s 2004 Boat of the Year contest, is the platform for an offshore-passage course departing from Stamford, Connecticut, on November 1, 2009. The final destination is Punta Gorda, Florida, with a stop at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Sailors can do one or both legs; the cost per leg is $2,500 per person. The boat does the reverse passage in April 2010. For details, contact Bob Etter of ETAPCharterLease (203-921-5165, www.etapcharterlease.com/passages/passages.html).
California Charter Operator Gives to Local Charities
Captain Kirk’s San Francisco Sailing, in Sausalito, California, turns over 10 percent of all company revenue to nonprofit groups located in the Bay Area.
Recipients include Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bay Area; Sailing Education Adventures, which provides sailing opportunities to disadvantaged youth; Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association; and the Marine Mammal Center. “The goal of the business is to support the community that’s supported me,” says the owner, Kirk Miller. “We’re able to make a profit while maintaining a primary goal of giving back to the community. Knowing that my sailing business helps generate funds for these deserving nonprofits is very fulfilling.”
Captain Kirk’s San Francisco Sailing (www.sfbaysail.com) offers charters aboard Bay Wolf, a Santa Cruz 50, and Flying Tiger, a Soverel 36.
