You’re not the first person to be in this situation.
You found the boat. You fell for it. You bought it. And then somewhere between the survey and the first time you took the helm alone, it became very clear that sailing is a lot harder than it looked from the dock.
This is where Captain Mike comes in.
What Actually Happens
Most new boat owners know more than they think. The problem isn’t knowledge — it’s confidence. You don’t yet trust the boat, you don’t trust yourself, and every decision on the water feels like it could go wrong.
The fastest way to fix that is to get on your boat with someone who can show you what it’s actually capable of — and what you’re actually capable of.
Captain Mike teaches private mentorship sessions on your own vessel. Not on a training boat. Not in a classroom. On your boat, in your waters, with your systems.
That matters. Every boat is different. Your engine has its own quirks. Your sail trim responds differently than the next boat. Your anchor setup, your electronics, your rigging — all of it is specific to you. Learning on someone else’s boat teaches you to sail a boat. Learning on your boat teaches you to sail your boat.
What Three Days Looks Like
Day one starts with boat handling under power. This is the foundation of everything — and it’s what most sailing courses skip. Docking, undocking, maneuvering in tight spaces, understanding how your boat responds to throttle and prop wash. Get this right and everything else gets easier.
Day two moves into sailing. Once you understand the fundamentals — points of sail, sail trim, tacking, gybing — you’ll realize this is actually the easy part. The boat wants to sail. Your job is to stop fighting it.
Day three is seamanship. In BC specifically, this means weather reading, tidal current, navigation around rocks that are exposed at low water and invisible at high, and understanding how to plan a passage before you leave the dock. The Pacific Northwest is some of the most technically demanding sailing in the world. It’s also some of the most rewarding.
By the end of three days, you know your boat. You know what it can do and what it can’t. You know how to handle it in the conditions you’re likely to encounter. And you leave with the confidence to take it out on your own.
Daily Sessions
If you have your boat based locally, Captain Mike also runs single-day and half-day mentorship sessions focused on one skill at a time. Docking. Anchoring. Sail trim. Spinnaker work. Navigation. You pick the session that matches where you are right now.
This works especially well for boat owners who want to build competency progressively rather than doing it all at once. One session per month, one skill per session — by the end of the season you’re a different sailor than you were in spring.
The BC Tidal Reality
If you’re sailing in BC waters, tidal current is not optional knowledge. The Inside Passage, the Gulf Islands, Desolation Sound — these are areas where the tide runs hard, where rocks are covered and uncovered with the cycle, and where navigation requires reading the water, not just the chart.
Captain Mike knows these waters. He has sailed the Pacific Northwest extensively and teaches the seamanship that’s specific to sailing here — not generic offshore theory that doesn’t account for what the water does between Vancouver Island and the mainland.
Where to Start
If you’ve bought a boat and aren’t sure what to do next, the first step is a conversation. Captain Mike will ask about your boat, your experience, and what you’re trying to accomplish — and tell you exactly what a mentorship program would look like for your specific situation.
The boat is already yours. The skills are closer than you think.
Adjust Your Sails to Adventure.