Sailing Lessons
I hope that you are all healthy and well and managing to stay sane in these difficult times! Tasman Adventures are able to deliver some courses at present despite COVID-19. We are training Tasmanian residents on all our courses but if you need to travel interstate, then unfortunately this is still not possible. If you would like to book a course or reserve a course for when the borders open fully, then please send an email to reserve your place.
For those coming on courses, we have a few extra cleaning procedures and ask that you postpone if you display COVID symptoms at any stage in the run up to your course.
Stay safe and well!
Jason
If you want excellent, tailored teaching that is matched to your learning style, then you need to book a lesson with Jason. He will teach you anything you want to know about sailing in a relaxed and jargon free way. These structured lessons will be in small groups of usually no more than 2 at a time and can be on your own boat or on Sirens' Song.
Jason will help get you and your boat ready for whatever adventures you have in mind - your first coastal trip, cruising the Bass Strait, sailing to NZ, round Australia or even round the world.
Jason is among the most qualified RYA instructors in Australia and has owned and sailed boats all over the world. Come and learn from one of the most skilled and experienced cruising sailors in Australia.
Sailing Lesson
$550 - $750 (approx. 6h)
Jason will deliver a sailing lesson for you on any topic or skill that you would like to work on.
These sessions can be stand alone units to support your overall movement towards achieving your adventuresome goals or they can be part of a series of sessions working towards an RYA yachtmaster qualification..
Fill out the form at the link below to book a sailing lesson!
Sailing Support
$70 per h or part thereof
If you'd like support to work out a problem you are having onboard or would like to get help with weather routing or passage planning, then Jason is available on the phone to support you. Give Jason a call on the number below to start the conversation about how he can help you reach your sailing goals.
Boat Assessment
$350 per 3h session
Jason will come and assess your boat against a modified Cat. 1 Australian Sailing offshore yacht equipment audit. This will include a check over your emergency equipment, procedures and heavy weather sailing options.
You will receive an oral report that will inform your maintenance and training plans that will prepare you and your boat for offshore sailing.
Fill out the form below to book your boat assessment!
Q: Why should you come to us?
We are a fully accredited sailing school operating under the guidelines and audit procedures of both the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) and Australian Sailing. This means that all our instructors are fully qualified and remain up to date in their training and the latest developments in teaching, learning and equipment. All of our instructors are excellent teachers and they understand how to form good relationships with students.
Q: How do we teach?
All of our instructors understand that teaching is an art and a science at the same time. We have all spent time developing our pedagogical skills, and we are all fully qualified to teach the material we are delivering and have many years of experience delivering that material.
We always use a collaborative learning model and employ experiential teaching and learning techniques to ensure that you get the most out of your courses.
Our Chief Instructor - Jason Cummings
Jason has been sailing for more than 25 years and holds an RYA Cruising Yachtmaster Instructor Trainer qualification (Commercially Endorsed) and is a Yachtmaster Ocean and RYA Diesel Instructor. He also holds an Australian Sailing Safety and Sea Survival Instructor certificate.
With over 50,000 nm logged, Jason has sailed across the Atlantic Ocean twice, the Pacific Ocean, the Bay of Biscay twice, the Tasman Sea twice (and single handed) and round New Zealand single handed. He loves cruising to cold places with small populations and he enjoys spending time on boats with friends (both experienced and novice).
Jason wants everyone to have adventures, to enjoy the sea and the places it leads, and he wants everyone to be as safe as possible whilst they are enjoying their adventures.
Our boat - Sirens' Song
Sirens' Song has been plying the ocean waves since 1983. She was built with care and attention in Massachusetts at the Cape Dory factory in Taunton. She came from the pen of Carl Alberg and is a Cape Dory 330.
Jason and Alan sailed her across the Pacific from Santa Barbara in 2010. After a brief stay up in Queensland, she migrated down to Clareville in Pittwater. In 2014-15, she circumnavigated both Islands of New Zealand with Jason on board and brought him back safely to Australia after more than 5000 miles with just each other for company.
Sirens' Song is now registered with AMSA for commercial use with Tasman Adventures and has recently moved down to Hobart after a brief holiday in the Bass Strait islands. Sirens' Song wants to look after people in rough seas and teach them the pleasures that a long keeled, cutter rigged cruiser can offer!
Accomodation
Sirens' Song is a small capable ocean cruiser fitted out in varnished teak below. All the workmanship is to the highest quality and she is a gorgeous boat to live in.
However, accomodation is fairly compact. There's a double bed up the front (forepeak) and a single narrow bunk in the saloon with a small queen sized 'double' in the saloon too. There's a shared bathroom and a two burner metho stove with oven in the galley.
We have a diesel heater built in, a 200L fridge and hot water for washing. There is 200L of fresh water on board and this does not stretch to a shower each day for everybody.
Earlier this year, Tom and I completed the Safety and Sea Survival course run by Jason from Tasman Adventures. We were so impressed by his professionalism and teaching skills, we decided to take the next step in our sailing training. Taking advantage of Jason’s relocation to Tasmania we booked the RYA Day Skipper & Coastal Skipper courses with Tasman Adventures which we completed during October into early November.
We were sure that our training would challenge us, but the idea of completing these two courses outside our regular sailing grounds was equally appealing. Again, we were not disappointed with Jason’s teaching techniques. His attention to detail, calmness and sense of humour made these two courses thoroughly enjoyable. He is also a dab hand in the galley!
For the Day Skipper we trained in and around Hobart completing the syllabus on Sirens’ Song. There is just so much variety in the Derwent and the lack of crowds certainly allowed flexibility and an unhurried timeframe.
Our second week was used to train for our Coastal Skipper again on Sirens’ Song. We checked the forecast and planned a circumnavigation of Bruny Island. This exposed us to a number of challenges from open anchorages and rugged cliffs on Bruny’s East Coast, to a taste of the Southern Ocean from the Friars to Cape Bruny, and the beautiful secluded bays along the West Coast with the tidal challenges offered by the D'Entrecasteaux Channel. It also allowed the exploration of this coastline and its abundant wildlife. From the Albatross that would skim past, the seal colonies around The Friars, and the Dolphins in the Channel we were captivated. Truly amazing cruising grounds to immerse ourselves in as we learned and practiced our skills!
Jason, thank you so much for the training, looking after us, and ensuring these training courses exceeded our expectations! We are now looking forward to applying all the skills learnt on our own yacht.
We cannot recommend Jason and Tasman Adventures highly enough and will definitely be scheduling further training courses in the near future.
Tasman Adventures provided a tailored masterclass in sailing throughout one of Australia’s most beautiful coastlines – along the Tasmanian South East coast – backed up with worldwide sailing experiences rarely found in others. The unique focus and approach to sailing into remote and out of the way places, mixed with a broader experience of the sea makes Tasman Adventures the go to sailing school for adventurers.
