Sailing, New York City to the Caribbean... Ok, so I'm not actually taking a sailboat from New York City to the Caribbean, but my sailing adventure does start in the NYC waters.
In a couple weeks, my family, boyfriend and I will be going down to the Caribbean to sail in the British Virgin Islands! We will be living on a 48 FT sailboat together and sail to different islands, find amazing snorkel spots and experience the most gorgeous beaches for 7 days! Eeeek I'm so excited!!
Since we are sailing the boat ourselves (bareboating), my Dad wanted to make sure Reid, Dan and I knew our sailing skills, to help support him when we sail the boat. So.....Reid and Dan drove up to Manhattan and we found Manhattan Sailing School!
We took a two-day sailing class with the school, and unfortunately had rainy / cold days out on the water. Towards the end of the second day, the sun started to break out, but it was chilly! The first day we had too much wind from the bad weather, and the next day had not enough wind to go super fast. Either way, we learned how to sail, in real conditions.
It was amazing to look all around while we were waiting to trim the sail, especially the Statue of Liberty. We were able to get as close as we could to see the statue, and it was my first time truly experiencing the Statue of Liberty. I loved that we picked NYC as a place for us all to learn how to sail together because it was a mix of a learning and sight-seeing experience!
Reid & Dan all bundled up before getting out on the water!
Learning how to sail along the Manhattan was a mix of an adrenaline rush of excitement and fear. There were a lot of vessels out on the water, so we had to really be careful at all times. We had Captain Bruce as our instructor, and really felt comfortable out on the water with him. We enrolled in the Basic Sailing course and tweaked it. Our group did not need to get any sailing certification, so Bruce shaped our course to provide us with the skills we needed for sailing in the BVI. It was great because we got to practice key skills we needed prior to our trip.
If you are interested in learning how to sail, or just sharpen your sailing skills before a big trip, you should definitely check out Manhattan Sailing School! If you sign up with multiple people, you can get a discount on your tickets. It's expensive, but a good value if you look at all the costs that go into the experience. Plus, you're basically getting a free sight-seeing tour!
Website: https://sailmanhattan.com
Location: 140 Dudley St, Jersey City, NJ 07302
~This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own~