Sailing for Dollars
Published: Tuesday, September 28, 2021
By: Ken Quant, Broad Reach Marketing
Long before hydroplaning kiteboards were invented, windsurfing was the hot new sailing sport. These were my college years and I used to earn enough beer money in the summer by “teaching” it off the point of a local vacation resort. For $50, students would get a 2-hour lesson where they hoped to learn the sport, but mostly ended up swimming in the lake. Each student was given a brief on-land lesson on sail handling before they literally hit the water. I would guess my success rate was somewhere south of 10% given the difficulties of learning to balance and sail at the same time, but I never lost anyone, so I considered it a success. It was certainly not a career move, but I did somehow manage to make some money sailing, so it was a good gig. There are however much better ways to combine your sailing avocation with your vocation that I’ve seen over the years.
Probably the most direct way to earn a few dollars sailing is to become a certified instructor. There are two main organizations in the US that provide the resources and credibility to become a sailing teacher. Both the American Sailing Association (ASA) and US Sailing have assembled comprehensive course works to learn the best ways to teach the sport. Each offer several different tiers of certification that range from small boat teacher all the way up to offshore passagemaker instructor. Despite some differences in the courses they offer, both are dedicated to properly training anyone who wants to try to make a living teaching sailing.
Once instructor certification is obtained, there are a couple of different paths to sailing employment. Probably the most obvious would be to just get a job teaching with a large and well-established sailing school. You could also buy a boat and start offering lessons onboard to paying students. I know a couple of people in our local marina doing this as a summer job and it certainly seems to keep them busy while also allowing them to write-off some of their sailing expenses. Of course, if you happen to live in a warmer location, that could be extended throughout the year for true full-time employment.
The other way to truly make a living sailing is to become a charter captain. No matter if you are guiding experienced sailors through new waters or exposing adventurous vacationers on their first sailboat cruise, a charter captain gets to enjoy the same boating experiences as their paid guests, only with a bit more responsibility. From day-sailing trips to weeklong charters, it seems to be a great way to get on the water while earning a few bucks. Of course, if you are a real glutton for punishment, you could always get a job captaining a margarita catamaran in some resort location, but to me that would seem to be more of an employment nightmare.
About the Author
Ken sails his T10, Eclipse, out of McKinley Marina in Milwaukee. He races regularly with the South Shore Yacht Club and MAST sailing club.
A version of this article appeared in the Fall Issue (September/October) 2021 of Great Lakes Scuttlebutt magazine.
tags: Job Opportunities, Lifestyle, Opinion, Sailing
