InSTRUCTORS:

My sailing started in the spring of 1971. My wife and I bought our first sailboat, a 16’ day-sailer.  We didn’t know if we could do this thing sailing, didn’t know if we would like it, but we have never looked back.

My teaching at Lanier Sailing Academy began in the early 1980s.  This was before ASA was founded.  In 1992 I became an ASA BKB101, certified instructor.  I would teach a few years, cruise a few years, off and on.

Over the years I have owned about a dozen sailboats.  Sailed and raced on dozens of sailboats in many various locations.  I have held officer positions in three sailing clubs.  Earning my Master Captain License was a very proud event in my sailing career.  I am happy to have returned to teaching at Lanier Sailing Academy, sharing my love of the sport.  Some of the classes I really enjoy teaching are; spinnaker sailing, solo sailing, sailing into/out of the dock, anchoring, and marlinespike seamanship.

Levels of ASA Certifications: ASA 101 103 104 105 106  201 203 204 205

How did you get started in sailing?

The US Navy actually taught me.  After a 4-year tour at sea, I was assigned to the Navy’s ROTC unit at the University of South Carolina.  Among other responsibilities, I was assigned as the unit’s ‘Sailing Officer,’ in charge of teaching students in the program how to sail.  The Navy apparently didn’t care that I had never sailed before and put me through a crash course that culminated in an offshore passage from Key West to New Orleans (and just happened to involve a heavy January gale).  I continued to sail from then on, joining LSA in 2006 and becoming an LSA instructor in 2015.

Where have you sailed and on what type boats?

I have chartered boats throughout the Windward and Leeward Islands of the Caribbean, including the British Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Grenada, St. Lucia and Martinique.  Generally I charter monohulled boats ranging from 32 – 45 feet, depending on crew size.  Additionally, I have chartered in Portugal, San Diego and Florida’s west coast and panhandle and have participated in an Atlantic offshore race from Daytona to Charleston.

Favorite sailing quote?

“I would rather be lost at sea than found at work”

Dawn grew up sailing on the lakes in Nebraska at an age of 7 where her parents raced 15 foot Snipes. Her father often joked that his secret weapon was his “light-weight crew”; Dawn and her sister. When the winds were forecasted to be 1-8 mph, Dawn learned the fine art of sailing in drifters, winning races with her Dad. She credits her racing skills to her Mom and Dad who were often the Snipe fleet’s 1st place season champions as well as winners of several inter-state regattas.

After leaving Nebraska and several years of absence from sailing, she moved to the Philippines with CARE, and joined the Manila Yacht Club’s off-shore races crewing on a range of yachts. Those included moonlight off-shore races from Manila to Subic Bay. While based in Tanzania years later, she became a member of the Dar es Salaam Yacht Club enjoying racing on various boats.

After 20 years overseas in Africa, Asia and the Balkans, she moved to Atlanta, re-discovering lake sailing at Lanier Sailing Academy in 2012. Since 2014 she has been an instructor sharing her passion for sailing by teaching others the joy of mastering those skills.

Level of ASA Certs:   101      103      104      105      106      107      201      203      204      205

How did you get started in sailing?

In the late 1970s I raced on a friend’s Lightning, and a few years later, I made a couple of trips on another friend’s boat, a Morgan OI 38, off the west coast of Florida.  After all that crewing, I wanted to learn more about sailing and how to be the skipper, so I took the BKB class at LSA in 1992 and joined the Passport Club.  In 1996, I took BBC and BCC on a 50 ft. Beneteau in the BVIs.  The summer after that trip, I attended the ASA instructor clinic and became an instructor at LSA.

Where have you sailed and on what types of boats?

After taking my BKB course, I spent ten years in the Passport Club, sailing on every boat in the fleet.   Then after completing Coastal and Bareboat Cruising courses, we took a couple of family BVI vacations staying at the Bitter End Yacht Club on North Sound, Virgin Gorda, enjoying day sails on their Hobie Cats, Sunfish, J24, Rhodes 19, and Freedom 30.  

I took the ACC course in 2001 traveling the Windward Islands from Martinique to Grenada and then chartered various Beneteaus from 38 to 44 feet in the BVIs and in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  In 2003 we bought a 1999 Hunter 340 which we keep at Sunrise Cove Marina and after retiring from a “real” job, completed the requirements for a USCG Captain’s license in 2013.  

Since then I have crewed for friends moving their boats long distances, both offshore and on the ICW, on their boats including a Catalina 350, a Bristol 41.1, and a Cheoy Lee 42 schooner.  I have more recently chartered catamarans (both sail and power) in the 42-51 ft. range in the Abacos, Exumas, Belize, and of course the BVIs, sharing sails in paradise with friends and family.