Meet Our Captains & Instructors
Captain Chris
Day |
Captain Christopher Day grew up in England, where his love for the
sea was born. Chris is a certified American Sailing Association (ASA)
Instructor as well as a Charter Captain and an Instructor of our
Trawler Training Classes. He has Skippered boats from 30 to 120 feet
in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean
Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. Chris also enjoys gardening and art;
however, it is his first love, boating, that he feels offers a
personal challenge that puts one in touch with Nature. |
|
Captain
Paul Carlson |
Paul Carlson has
20 years of sailing and teaching experience on vessels
from 20 to 53 ft. Paul is
certified to teach all ASA levels through Advanced Coastal including
catamarans. Paul holds a 50 ton USCG masters license. Through his
ownership of a yacht delivery business his offshore experience
includes West Coast and Pacific NW deliveries between Los Angeles,
CA and the Canadian Gulf Islands as well as East Coast boat
deliveries. He is now a charter boat captain out of St. Petersburg,
Cape Coral, and Naples, FL. Paul’s professional career was as CFO
with Exxon Corporation affiliates in Latin America, and with two
significant non-profit organizations: The Alvin Ailey American Dance
Theater (NYC) and the Oregon Museum of Science & Industry (Portland
OR). For Paul, watching a student gain confidence in their ability
to sail/motor is
the ultimate reward of the teaching experience. |
|
Captain
Charlie Ryan |
Captain Charlie
Ryan is a lifelong boating advocate who followed his love of the
water and all things nautical into his life�s vocation. He is now
retired from two separate careers � first as a naval officer and
secondly as an executive with Honeywell International Inc. His love
of boating began with competitive sailing dinghy racing at age 8 and
cruising aboard family boats on the Great Lakes through his high
school and college years. He later owned a series of his own boats �
both power and sail. During his navy years, Charlie spent more than
a dozen years at sea in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and
served part of that time as captain of two destroyer-class ships.
Captain Charlie
holds a 100 Ton U.S. Coast Guard Masters License. Charlie
particularly enjoys helping boaters improve their yachting skills.
When not boating on his own cruiser or working as a yacht delivery
captain, Charlie and can often be found teaching boating at
Southwest Florida Yachts and the Florida Sailing and Cruising
School. Captain Charlie lives with his wife Ricki in Fort Myers and
also spends some time during the summer at their cottage on the
Chesapeake Bay.
|
|
Captain
Steve Lineberry |
After a few, now
comical missteps, Captain Steve Lineberry learned to sail on
Kentucky Lake. When he stepped away from a career in office
products, Steve turned to his love of sailing as a second career. He
started his boating profession in 1993. Since that time he has
received his 100 tom USCG Master�s License and American Sailing
Association (ASA) instructor certification through the Advanced
Coastal Cruising level. His teaching skills have earned him ASA�s
annual �Outstanding Instructor� Award eleven times!
Captain Steve
enjoys all types of boating and is an avid scuba diver.
Steve�s job as a
professional Captain along with his own personal cruising adventures
have taken him from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, the
Bahamas, along the East Coast of the U.S. and throughout the
Caribbean. His greatest reward is seeing his students discover their
own nautical abilities along with seeing the joy his students
experience as they learn to handle a boat on their own. |
|
Captain
Jeff Lewis |
I have over 40
Years of sail and power boat operation. I started sailing when I was
9 years old and competing in races at 14. I was the Texas State
Junior Champion on Dolphin Class sailboats at 16. I joined the Coast
Guard out of High School and retired after 20 years of service in
the Aviation branch as a Helicopter Crewman and Navigator on the C-
130 Hercules. I have three kids. (Two grown adults, one 16) I live
in Tampa, Fl., and have lived on the Gulf Coast my whole life.
I am a Licensed
Captain with Towing Endorsement, ASA 101, 103, 104 Instructor.
Recreational Power Boating Assoc. (RPBA) Certified Instructor on
Directed Thrust, Multi-Engine and Single Engine Close Quarters Power
Boat Handling and Power Boating Made Easy. I am the owner and
operator of my own yacht delivery business. My hobbies include
playing guitar, and anything that allows me to be on the water!
I have a huge
respect for people who seek professional instruction in boating.
For me,
instruction allows me to keep reviewing the fundamentals of boating.
I NEVER stop
learning along with my students. My years of experience mean nothing
to me until I pass on what I have learned over my four decades of
boating. There is nothing like being a part of bringing new people
into the boating life. |
|
Captain
Glenn Smith’s love of the ocean started during his youth on Cape
Cod, Massachusetts.
When he was young, Glenn spent
his free time sailing and fishing off of Cotuit, MA. He has carried
his love for the water with him throughout his life. Glenn has
worked on offshore oil rigs in Texas, as the Captain of a private
yacht and as Captain of large tour vessels in Southwest Florida. He
has also cruised the Keys, the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico from
the Alabama and Florida coasts to Cancun, Mexico. Captain Glenn
holds a 100 ton U.S. Coast Guard license.
Glenn
also loves the history and the wildlife of beautiful Southwest
Florida and enjoys teaching people about it while exploring the
islands by boat. He often quotes President Kennedy who said, 'we all
came from the sea; all of us have in our veins the exact percentage
of salt water in our blood that exists in the ocean . . .'
Captains John and Marty Sherrard
Captain
John |
John and
Marty Sherrard share a love of being on the water, a love of sailing
and a love of sharing their passion for boating with others. That
love took them around the world compliments of the United States
Navy. Both gentlemen served as US Naval Flight Officers with years
of both carrier and land-based operations. They also have almost
identical experience on the water over the last thirty years. Why
have they both followed almost identical paths in life? They are
identical twins!
Captain
Marty |
In addition to the Navy, their
experience includes over thirty years of sailing. Fifteen of those
years were spent on racing sailboats on the Chesapeake Bay and
Potomac River. They have participated in long distance and overnight
races as well. In addition, both have done ICW/Offshore deliveries
from Annapolis to Florida and from Newport to Halifax, Nova Scotia
and from Virginia to BVI. They also have extensive cruising
experience around the Gulf of Mexico and Florida Keys, the Bahamas
(Abacos, Berry, Exumas, and Andros Islands), British Virgin Islands,
St Maarten, and Antigua. They recently participated in a sailing
rally from Key West to Havana (Marina Hemingway) Cuba. Their
experience is not just limited to sailing. They have captained motor
yacht and power catamaran charters out of Fort Lauderdale, Nassau,
and the BVI.
Of
course, these twins have been known to pull a few tricks from time
to time. Once when one of them was on a date and it wasn’t going
well, he traded places with his brother from behind a pole on the
dance floor and the girl never knew the difference!
In
addition to being licensed US Coast Guard Captains, John and Marty
are also American Sailing Association certified instructors and
instructors of our Trawler and Motor Yacht training courses.
With
either Captain John or Captain Marty as your instructor, you will
gain valuable experience that cannot be found in any book. Of
course, these two could switch places halfway through your class and
you’d never know!
|
|