"Nikita" wrote in message
ps.com...
Hello all,

I'm a casual dinghy sailor, and I want to learn how to sail
larger
boats--yachts. To that end, I want to take one of those
live-aboard
sailing courses that take about a week and end in some sort of
certification. I figure it will be a nice experience, and it
will show
me what life aboard is like, so I can figure out if I want to
buy a
yacht of my own. But.... picking the right course is hard.

If you want to be really radical, you could try Europe - the
Mediterranean. Charter companies there run training schemes that
prepare complete novices in the first week of a holiday to skipper
their own yachts (bareboat) in the second week. Look at
http://www.neilson.co.uk/yachting/VillaFlotilla.asp .

Of course, that's not Florida, it's non-tidal, and the season
doesn't start until May. And the holidays span two weeks (when are
you Americans going to discover the quality of life delivered by
longer holidays!).

It's possible subsequently to test for an International
Certificate of Competence (if you reach the appropriate standard:
most do), but quite frankly, certificates are not what most
charter companies are looking for. They're looking for time in
charge. Most guys who try this type of learning go on for a second
two week holiday sailing in company (flotilla, with a support boat
around most of the time), then follow with a bareboat charter,
doing their own thing.

The they shift on to tidal sailing - a whole new ball game in the
English Channel!
--
JimB
http://www.jimbaerselman.f2s.com/
Comparing cruise areas within Greece and N Spain