Reprint courtesy of SAILING Magazine, Story by John Kretschmer, Photos by Walter Cooper

My two daughters have been dragged aboard sailboats all their young lives and have logged thousands of blue water miles. They know the difference between a sloop, ketch and schooner rig, they can tie a bowline and a clove hitch, and, God forbid, they would never call a galley a kitchen or a cabin a bedroom. But while 9-year-old Nari and 7-year-old Nikki are completely at home scurrying about the deck of most sailboats, until recently they had no interest in actually learning how to sail. Mom and Dad handled the boat and trimmed sails, and they went along for the ride. No wonder they love sailing.

Over the years I have made a few feeble attempts to show the girls some of the basics, but trying to learn to sail aboard our 45-foot Roberts ketch, a sturdy steel-hulled cruiser that's about as responsive as an HMO claims adjuster, is not easy. That magical connection between wind, sail and rudder is not readily apparent. Heck, it takes an unusually long attention span just to complete a tack. Also, I worried about the heavy loads the 30,000-plus-pound boat produces, loads that can make line handling, especially for little fingers, dangerous. And then there was the real issue. Dear Old Dad is not the ideal teacher. More often than not my sage advice was met by a chorus of "Oh Dad!" and raised eyebrows as the girls disappeared below.

I needed help, so I turned to Steve and Doris Colgate and their renowned Offshore Sailing School. The Colgate's have been training sailors since 1964 and more than 100,000 novice and experienced sailors have completed the school's courses that range from its Learn to Sail program to the weeklong, Live-Aboard Coastal Passage Making.

After driving over from our home in Ft. Lauderdale, we checked into South Seas Resort on a Thursday night. Any notion that the upcoming weekend was really a vacation in disguise was quickly dashed when we were instructed to turn up for class at 8 o'clock sharp the next morning. We assembled in the harborside classroom and met our instructor Christian Pschorr. The weekend Learn to Sail course is ideal for families, allowing a single family of three or four to commandeer a Colgate 26-a trainer designed specifically for the school-complete with its very own instructor. "Learning to sail fosters a sense of teamwork, and being on the water it is a wonderful way for families to bond," Steve Colgate said. But before any bonding might take place, we had to cover the fundamentals in the classroom. 

Pschorr, who lives aboard a small schooner with his wife and two young sons, brings a wealth of experience, and just as important, a sense of perspective to the Learn to Sail course. An accomplished offshore sailor, Pschorr is a sailmaker by training and an instructor by instinct. Using slides and his trusty marker, he managed to keep Nari and Nikki engaged and amused as he introduced the arcane language of nautical terms and went over the various components of a sailboat. Our classmates ranged from a local Ft. Myers resident, who as a longtime powerboater was heretically contemplating buying his first sailboat, to an eager high school student from New Jersey, seriously infected with the sailing disease.

Two hours later we climbed aboard a sleek Colgate 26 and made our way onto Pine Island Sound. The Colgate 26 is an ideal trainer. It is safe, unsinkable and has a large, uncluttered cockpit. The counter stern is carried aft of the tiller, creating a handy instructor's perch. The open stern also allows for quick access onto the boat in case a student goes overboard. The boat is responsive in light air and can also stand up to a blow. The small headsail is easy to handle for new sailors, but there are plenty of go-fast adjustments to tweak as you gain experience.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much wind that first morning, but we still managed to go over the fine points of tacking, jibing, sail trim and, most importantly, helming. I could see that the course was going to be a bit ambitious for the younger Nikki, but at the same time it was a thrill to watch Nari. She soaked up Pschorr's advice like a sponge, and for the first time she was actually sailing. I did my best to keep my mouth shut.

"Dad, sailing is like learning to read, it seems so hard at first and then suddenly, poof, you get it. This is great," she said when we broke for lunch.

Back in the classroom, Pschorr delved into the mechanics of sailing and explained the different points of sail. The class concluded with a short test, and Nari answered nine out of 10 questions correctly. The sea breeze kicked in for the afternoon sailing session. Lesa steered and Nari trimmed the sheets as we tacked out of the narrow marina channel. Once on the sound, Pschorr demonstrated how the slot effect really works, and we practiced trimming sails to maximize boat speed.

After the morning classroom session on Saturday, I decided that Nikki needed to spend more time sampling the pool, beach and bike paths of South Seas Resort, and we let Nari and Lesa concentrate on the course without our distractions. That afternoon they returned to the dock, beaming. They had tacked out through narrow Redfish Pass onto the Gulf for some spirited sailing. Nari excitedly explained how they had practiced the techniques for picking up a mooring and crew-overboard rescue. She steered as they returned to the dock under sail. "Tomorrow Christian says we're going to set the spinnaker." 

I confess, on Sunday morning I was beginning to worry. Playing on the beach with Nikki, I watched as Nari, Lesa and Pschorr tacked through the pass and then sped south on a reach. Their tacking and jibing maneuvers were crisp and confident. Before long I saw the chute go up. By the time they came charging back through the pass I knew I was in trouble-my authority aboard would never be quite the same.

On Sunday afternoon Nari took the final course exam, a 100-question test that is quite challenging. Her score of 78 percent had her becoming one the youngest kids to ever achieve the Junior Captain's certificate.