Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship

My son and I took the 4 day ASA 101 Basic Keelboat course. I have a good bit of experience but no formal training, my son just a couple of sails with me. Our class mates were another father-​son pair with the same situation, but the son had experience on cats. Our skipper, Capt. Frank Mummert, did a fantastic job of teaching this diverse group the basics without making it boring, and not too advanced for the newbies. He «customized» the class to teach some advanced techniques to help Matt and me, but made sure to make everything very clear and understandable to everyone. This is a true on the water, let’s go sailing course. We spent all day every day, except for the test on the last day, on the water. Probably a total of 26 or 27 hours on the water away from the dock and the rest prepping or closing down the boat after a sail.
October weather can be really iffy, and it was different every day. Frank took advantage of that to teach us what to do and how to maximize boat speed and navigation in all these conditions, one day winds of 20 plus with higher gusts, one day just a breath of air in the am. By adding learning opportunities above and beyond the strict minimums of the ASA 101 course I came away a far better, safer sailor, my son with a great deal more knowledge and confidence, and for me an with an even greater commitment to get even more qualified.
Everyone associated with the school is knowledgeable, helpful and friendly. The boats are awesome, IP 32s in excellent condition. For anyone interested but a bit timid about all this sailing stuff, boats heeling over, etc take this course from this school on these boats. They are heavy open water boats that are as stable as you could want, but handle relatively well. And the skippers/​instructors are seasoned sailing veterans that are not going to let anything happen to you, or the boat! And Capt. Frank was not only a great sailing instructor but a great guy. Really enjoyed the 4 days with him.
The Rock Hall area has several great good places to eat, and close by Chestertown has even more, so you will not go wanting for a good meal and a cold beer. If you don’t want to stay on board, the Mariner’s Inn motel, yes, motel, is quaint, squeaky clean, within walking distance of a great restaurant on the water, and close (10 minute drive) to the marina. It is very comfy, great free wifi, but a blast from the past. Don’t expect a Marriott Courtyard, but do expect a warm welcome and a comfortable stay. You’ll sleep well since you will be tired after grinding on winches all day.
I can’t make a strong enough recommendation of Maryland School of Sailing. I am already planning my next two courses and getting my wife into the women only ASA 101 course.

I had an excellent experience as a new to sailing boater. While I’ve been a power boater for over 20 years, with 15 years «captaining» as the head of a fisheries research crew, sailing a keelboat was a new experience. For my four day class there were 5 students and our captain, Andy Barton. He was patient and understood we out different levels of boating experience and instructed us at a level were we all advanced. I would highly recommend the ASA101 course but, unless you are looking for a bootcamp type course, schedule a course being taught by someone other than ex military, as I believe they may lean a bit more into a my-​way or the highway type experience… although this is only based on the experience my wife had. My wife took this same course one week after I took mine, with a captain who was ex-​military, and while she learned a lot the experience was not nearly as laid back and was conducted much more like a bootcamp. All in all though I would highly recommend the school as overall I believe the facilities and staff were first class.