Which sailing course
is right for you?

If you have never sailed, or only as a passenger, start with Start Keelboat Sailing or go straight to Basic Cruising. Sail Canada recommends SKS for people with minimal time on the water. If you are a quick learner and will read the book before the course, Basic Cruising on its own works well. If you like to take your time, SKS first makes Basic much easier.

Yes. Basic Cruising has no prerequisites. Most people with any sailing background (dinghies, windsurfing, crewing on a friend’s boat) skip SKS. Without that background you can still do it, but expect to work harder in the first two days while you learn the terms and points of sail.

Not for the certification. Basic Cruising is a Sail Canada prerequisite for Intermediate. If you already sail, the option is to do both in one week: the blended Basic + Intermediate course. Basic Cruising can also be challenged by experienced sailors, with a minimum of 4 hours afloat plus the written exam.

Many of the sailing skills are the same. Basic teaches you to skipper a boat by day in familiar waters. Intermediate takes the same skills to a higher standard and adds what you need to run a boat for a week in unfamiliar waters: engine checks and troubleshooting, electrical and water systems, provisioning, fuel and water planning, pilotage into new harbours, and managing a crew. It is often called the bareboat skipper level, because it is the certification most charter companies look for.

Sail Canada Basic Cruising, Basic Coastal Navigation, the ROC(M) VHF radio certificate with DSC endorsement, and a Pleasure Craft Operator Card. Sail Canada also recommends a first aid and CPR certificate and around ten day sails as skipper before you start.

Yes. Sail Canada allows a 12-month window. You can take Intermediate now and finish Basic Coastal Navigation and your VHF within 12 months of the course. Once you send us those certificates, we sign off your Intermediate. If you miss the window, plan on a one-day refresher with us in Picton before we can sign you off. Coastal Navigation and VHF are usually taught in the winter, so many students do Intermediate in the summer and the classroom courses that winter.

They are separate classroom courses offered by sailing schools and clubs, often over the winter and sometimes online. We are working on offering Basic Coastal Navigation ourselves. Until then, ask us and we will point you to a school we trust.

You need one to operate a powered boat in Canada, and it is an Intermediate prerequisite. Once you achieve Sail Canada Basic Cruising, you can apply for your PCOC without writing another exam.

Strong, motivated learners who already have some sailing background and will study before they arrive. You write two exams and cover two levels of skills, so it is a lot of work. Several of our students have done it and done well. If you like to take your time and let things sink in, do Basic first, sail on your own for a season, then come back for Intermediate. See the comparison below.

Basic and Intermediate each have a closed-book written exam. You need 70%. SKS uses an open-book workbook. Sail Canada does not use pass or fail: you are either achieved or in progress. If you are in progress on the exam, you can rewrite after two weeks. If you need more time on a practical skill, we talk it through during the course and make a plan with you. The practical skills matter most to us: we need to know you can handle the boat safely.

Yes. Same Sail Canada standard, same skills checklist, same exam. The difference is format. In the Exumas you live aboard for a week, so there is more time on the water and a wider range of conditions: protected sailing on the Exuma Bank and open ocean swell outside it, plus tides and currents. In Prince Edward County the courses are shorter and closer to home.

Yes, and it works well. Each student works on their own level. Intermediate students practise skippering by briefing and coaching the crew, which is a big part of being a skipper. Basic students get extra time as crew watching how a skipper runs the boat.

If you want Sail Canada certification, you would generally start with Basic Cruising, and with your background a blended Basic + Intermediate week is usually realistic. If you just want to get back on the water and sharpen your skills, a Mileage Builder week is often the better fit. Send us your sailing background and we will recommend a path.

A Mileage Builder week. You tell us what you want to work on (docking, sail trim, crew overboard, anchoring) and we build the week around it. You can also use the Intermediate standard as a checklist and pick the items you want to refresh.

No. CANSail and the cruising standards are separate systems and don’t transfer. Dinghy experience is still a big advantage: you already understand wind, points of sail and sail trim, so you can spend the course on boat handling, the engine, anchoring and navigation. Dinghy sailors are good candidates for blended Basic + Intermediate.

Most charter companies in North America and the Caribbean accept Sail Canada Intermediate Cruising as proof of competence, along with a sailing resume. Requirements vary by company and country, and some European countries ask for an International Certificate of Competence (ICC). Check with the company you plan to use, or ask us.

No. What fades is the skill if you don’t use it. The best thing you can do after any course is keep sailing: crew for friends, join a club, rent a boat for a day, or come back for a Mileage Builder week.

As soon as you register you get access to the student portal: online lessons, quizzes, practice exams and simulators. Start right away, even 10 to 15 minutes a day. The more theory you have in hand when you arrive, the more of the course we can spend sailing. For a blended week, plan on regular study for several weeks before you arrive.