If you've ever considering deepwater sailing but were not sure how to jump start your sailing career, our Swan Program is for you.
Our Swan Program was specifically designed to introduce people to the world of offshore sailing by providing hands-on crew experience under the watchful eye of an professional skipper on a proven boat. During your tenure onboard, you’ll learn to keep watch, make log entries, navigate, use the radio, steer the boat and perform tasks that are essential to safe offshore sailing. The Swan Program offers a fixed price for everything you’ll need aboard—you just pay for your travel to and from the boat. The Swan Program sails south from New England to Bermuda and the Caribbean in the fall, and north from Bermuda and the Caribbean to New England in the spring. Summer trips are also available.
After your first Swan Program experience, you’ll have the skills to sail on other boats. Please view the video below to learn more.
Dear Sailors,
We like to speak with potential Swan Crew before they sign up for any of the following passages. Please let me know if you have any questions before placing a deposit online or by mailing a check.
A deposit is required for any option.
I am in or near the office most of December and January at 631-423-4988. E-mail works very well at hank@sailopo.com
Once we have agreed you are ready to join us, you can make a deposit online at www.sailopo.com/store or pay by check made out to Offshore Passage Opportunities and mailed to OPO, PO Box 2600, Halesite NY 11743.
Best Regards,
Hank Schmitt
OPO
We are happy to share our fall schedule with the public. OPO members received this schedule on July 1. The ARC Passage on a Swan 68 from Las Palmas to St. Lucia booked and filled up right away! We have three berths left to sail with Tanai Aebi from Barcelona to Las Palmas to have the boat in Las Palmas a week before crew arrive for the ARC start. Tania Aebi sailed around the world by herself starting at age 18 on a 26-foot boat in 1986. She wrote “Maiden Voyage” about that epic adventure which has become a classic. This is a rare opportunity to sail with a celebrity skipper who is also a very nice person.
In years past, we had as many as 10 Swans departing from Newport in the fall and sailing to St. Maarten in the Caribbean. We are no longer organizing our annual NARC Rally after 24 years, but have two Swans still sailing south this fall. If you are interested in taking the next step to become a seasoned offshore sailor, the classic passage from Newport to the Caribbean in the fall will help you achieve your goal. We have a Swan 48 and a Swan 65 grandfathered into our Swan Program. If you would like to know if you qualify and want to sign aboard, please e-mail me at hank@sailopo.com or call us at 631-423-4988.
Swan 48, Piper Lance
October 24 to November 13 (21 days)
Newport RI to Bermuda to St. Maarten Caribbean
Crew arrives Thursday, October 24, for a planned departure on Saturday, October 26. Depending on weather, there will be a delayed departure from Bermuda for the second leg departing on Wednesday, November 6, to watch the U.S. election results. Crew flies home on November 13 after one or two days in SXM.
Price: $5,500
Swan 65, Aurora
October 24 to November 13 (21 days)
Newport RI to Bermuda to St. Maarten Caribbean
Sail with Captain Johnthan Ishmael and repeat First Mate Courney from St. Lucia. Crew arrives Thursday, October 24, for planned departure on Saturday, October 26. Depending on weather, there will be a delayed departure from Bermuda for the second leg departing on Wednesday, November 6, to watch the U.S. election results. Crew flies home on November 13 after one or two days in SXM.
Price: $5,500
Swan 68, Aphrodite
First Leg: October 21 to November 10 (21 days)
Barcelona to Las Palmas Canary Islands Spain
Sail with Captain Tania Aebi and First Mate Maurizio
Crew arrives in Barcelona, Spain on Monday, October 21. The plan is to depart on October 23 and make possible stops in Gibraltar and Madeira, Portugal on the way to Las Palmas arriving about November 8 or 9, having several days in las Palmas before flying home on November 10. This is a 3-week adventure. The skipper is Tania Aebi and the mate is Maurizio from Southern Italy. They have an excellent cook who will make dinner each night.
Price: $4,500 with 3 only berths left
Second Leg: November 17 to December 15 (29 days)
ARC Rally, Las Palmas to St. Lucia
Price: $$6,500 (Currently full, but ask to join the Wait List)
