Caleb, I just looked at your web site, that looks like exactly what I'm talking about! Now my question is, why do we not have clubs like this nation wide? I wish I had known about this when I was spending a lot of time in Seattle, riding the bus up to Dusty Strings and the Red Door pub! Boston has a similar comunity sailing center that I have been able to rent from, but most big cities don't, unfortunately. In England, they have RYA centers like this all over the place. I used to walk from Brighton to Hove to rent there and race with them. Great fun. But when I have gone to the US Sailing centers in Martin County (Stuart, Florida) and Sarasota, and Miami, they just look at you like you have two heads if you ask to rent a boat!

It would be nice if US Sailing were to offer a certification program where you take a test, writen and on the water, in one hour or so, then give you a certification card which would allow you to rent at any US Sailing facility nation wide, if they have boats available.

Here's an idea, if you enroll in a US Sailing course they give you the first year of membership free, with half price rentals for the first year.