The Bay Skipper Program is designed to train and certify members to confidently and competently skipper a PSC Social Sail on the Bay on a sailboat, >30’ in length and live-aboard accommodations. We sail and train mainly on the Chesapeake Bay around the Annapolis and Solomon Island Maryland areas.

If you want to get more involved in the actual sailing, navigation, and eventual skippering of mid to large size sailboat, then some additional training and qualifications are required. The PSC Bay Skipper Program is designed to be a natural progression from the Basic Sailing Course offered by the club.

Our Bay Skipper Program skills you will learn are:

• Organize the logistics for a Bay sail.
• Work up a piloting and navigation plan.
• Provide instructions and safety/weather briefings to the crew.
• Assign crew duties and get the boat underway.
• Provide direction, guidance and training to the crew while underway.
• Return the crew and boat safely to the home port safely.
• At the end of the day, have a crew that has had a great day on the water, and is ready to go sailing again.

Our Bay Skipper program consist of the following elements:

• Self-paced, but sequential completion of an extensive “checklist” of Bay sailing skills or Bay Skipper Qualification Checklist.
• A sailing resume and log with sailing hours underway, during the day and at night.
• Current CPR and First Aid certifications.
• Successfully pass 3 examinations - General Knowledge, Rules of the Road, and Piloting & Navigation.
• On-the-water (OTW) sailing evaluation from a Senior Bay Instructor.

If you would like to enroll in the Bay Skipper Program, contact our Bay or Training Commodore.  You should then start signing up for Bay sails and fill out your sailing log. Any Bay sail (private sails included) supervised by a PSC qualified skipper will count towards your total time on the water required for certification. This includes our annual Memorial and Labor Day raft-ups.

We welcome you to enroll in the Bay Skipper Candidate Program to help us lead PSC Social Sails on the Chesapeake Bay!