Tampa Bay · Fort Myers Beach
Small instructor-led NauticEd school sailing from Matanzas Pass at Fort Myers Beach on a Beneteau 323. Certify locally through Bareboat Charter Master and the SLC license, then apply it on the school's week-long international flotillas.
This is a one-instructor school, and the instructor carries the weight: Daniel Jackson is a NauticEd Level V Captain-rank Chief Sailing Instructor and Assessor, a USCG Master with sailing and towing endorsements, and holds US Sailing instructor certifications through bareboat and catamaran levels. Training runs aboard his Beneteau 323 out of Matanzas Pass at Fort Myers Beach, on the student’s own boat, or wherever a traveling engagement takes him.
The curriculum is the NauticEd ladder: Basic Keelboat mastery, Bareboat Charter Master, coastal navigation and cruising, up through the SLC international license assessment in sail and power. Sessions run as long, individual on-water days rather than classroom cohorts.
The second tier is the point of the first: week-long international flotilla vacations where new skippers apply the training, with 2026 trips to French Polynesia and the Grenadines, one of them already sold out. Certify on the Beneteau at home, then sail a 45-foot cat in Polynesia with the instructor nearby.
Featured Tampa Bay · Sarasota
Founded by Olympian Steve Colgate in 1964 and relaunched in 2026 under Seaworthy Academy, teaching from the Quay in Sarasota and the Vinoy Marina in St. Petersburg. NauticEd pathway from Learn to Sail to Bareboat Charter Master, on 40 to 48 foot monohulls and catamarans.
Tampa Bay · Punta Gorda
US Sailing-certified school out of Burnt Store Marina on Charlotte Harbor, running coastal cruising, liveaboard, and offshore courses on a fleet that includes Beneteau Oceanis monohulls and Excess catamarans.
Tampa Bay · North Fort Myers
US Sailing-affiliated nonprofit on the Caloosahatchee River, running youth dinghy programs (ages 5–18) on Optimists, ILCAs, and C420s since 1983, plus US Sailing Basic Keelboat instruction.