OCC School of Sailing and Seamanship

I wonder, how many of my fellow Ericson owners learned or honed their sailing skills at our own Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship in Newport Beach? From beginning sailing on 14’ Lidos and 30’ Shields to advanced cruising on the OCCSSS’s Lucinda May (Farr), Betty (Catalina 42) and Alaska Eagle, or racing on Pyewacket and Keoloa III, there is no better location to hone one’s sailing skills. Nor, is there a better location to work on navigation skills, diesel mechanics, weather … or to pickup that Master/Mate license that you have been dreaming about.

No, I am not an employee of OCC. But, I would like to invite you to join the Orange Coast College Sailing Association. Membership ($79 to join, $50 per year thereafter) entitles you to a discount on most courses, the opportunity to rent the schools Lidos and 30’ Shields and a wide range of monthly events. This is a great bunch of people who share a common love for sailing and the sea.

Kirby Holte
Commodore, Orange Coast College Sailing Association 2006
Skipper of Uff Da, Ericson 32 at Alamitos Bay
gridtech@earthlink.net

OCC Alumnus

Hi Kirby,

I spent a couple of years taking advantage of the classes that OCC offers. I took the electrical class to prepare for some diy projects and ended up staying for diesel, navigation, radar, rules of the road, weather, and ended with the license course in Spring of 2004.

I lived in San Diego and commuted to OCC at the time so I didn't have the chance to get on the water much at OCC but I did have to opportunity to sail a Shields for the sailing endorsement part of the license course. They are a very fun boat and I wish I could have sailed one more often. An Alaska Eagle voyage is still high on the "things to do someday" list but we recently moved from San Diego to Bellingham, WA and it looks like we could spend years getting acquainted with the San Juan and Gulf islands.

I enjoyed my time at OCC (even getting grilled by Merald) and agree that there is a great bunch of people there.

Dan and Julie
Jewel E28+

Donated Sailboat

I have not had the pleasure of taking any classes. I did buy one of their donated sailboats. They do have a very nice facility on Newport Bay. Their training fleet has to be seen to be believed. I bought an E-30+ that has turned out to be much nicer than we expected. When we picked up "Regalus" they sent us the combination to the lock, told us to pick it up and we just took off when there was no one there. Felt a little like we were stealing the boat. We stopped for fuel as we left Newport and the guys at the fuel dock did not believe that it was a donated boat. The sailboats that are donated are unbelievable. If they were a little closer I would have taken some classes. It seems to be a much better training program than any I have seen elsewhere.
Greg