Cost:   Member: $2250.00   Retail: $3000.00 # of students:   six maximum and two instructors. Boat:  40-55' offshore-ready sloop Format: Seven Consecutive Days Monday - Sunday (Tues - Sun nights are spent aboard the boat) Prerequisites:   Coastal Passagemaking & Celestial Navigation certifications.* (Please see detailed explanation below.)
OCSC's Offshore Passagemaking course OCSC's Offshore Passagemaking course is the pinnacle of our cruising track of courses and is designed to prepare you for an open ocean crossing. This course is exciting, challenging, difficult and, at times, daunting. It is what you can expect if you plan to join the elite group of sailors who call themselves "blue water sailors". With a very large training area off the California coast, you will encounter and be trained to manage all the challenges of several days offshore. You’ll grapple with watch systems and watch standing, keeping a proper navigation log, celestial navigation sights and sight reductions, responses to emergencies such as heaving to a sea anchor, running with warps, abandoning ship, medical emergencies, etc. Whether you are intending to simply further develop your ocean sailing skills or you qualify to be an official candidate for certification, you will be challenged to learn and grow.   In fact, this course best rewards sailors who attend with the full package of prerequisite skills and knowledge, as well as lots of recent experience. Successful completion prepares you to: Plan, prepare for and execute a blue water, cross ocean cruise as skipper.
*Prerequisites for Offshore Passagemaking: To attend: In order to attend this course, you must have US Sailing's Coastal Passagemaking certification or equivalent experience. Extensive experience on cruising boats in 30 - 40-foot range is strongly advised. Call us and one of our club managers familiar with the training and the program can advise you and set you up for success. To be evaluated for certification: If you are a US Sailing member and you meet all the prerequisite qualifications, you may be evaluated for Offshore Passagemaking Certification through US Sailing. Both US Sailing's Coastal Passagemaking and Celestial Navigation certifications are prerequisites for you to be considered for OPM certification. In addition to successfully performing during the course and, especially during the formal practical evaluation near the end of the course, you must successfully complete the Offshore Passagemaking written exam (taken within one year after completion of the course). This exam is based on the topics covered in the course, as well as in the course text, Passagemaking.