NORTH FORT MYERS, Florida – You can learn a lot in a classroom, but if your goal is to operate and navigate an expensive yacht, Barb and Vic Hansen have another idea: Go to school on the boat.

               “Real world, real time, hands-on learning,” is what Barb Hansen calls it, underscoring the philosophy of the unique school that the Hansens operate, Florida Sailing and Cruising School (FS&CS) in North Fort Myers. At this school, students live aboard vessels while they study.

              Courses are limited to four students, one individual or one couple per cabin. Courses are scheduled at the convenience of the students. By day, under the tutelage of the captain-instructor, they learn by doing – steering, plotting, casting-off, tieing-up. By night, under a cabin light, they read textbooks and prepare for the big test. Almost literally, she said, students “eat, breathe and sleep” their way to the diploma.

              Liveaboard study is also more fun, a fact that has kept students coming back for more since the Hansens opened the liveaboard school in 1984. “People learn and remember when they are having fun because they’ll have all their faculties involved, their hands, their hearts and their heads,” said Vic Hansen. Study has a serious side as well. “You don’t have to tell them how serious this is,” he said. “Students are motivated to learn because they are going to be responsible for the lives of the people on board plus maybe a million dollar’s worth of fiberglass and teak.”

              Some students already own boats and want to improve their skills. Some intend to buy a boat. Still others want to qualify to charter a yacht on a bareboat basis so they don’t have to hire a skipper to operate their chartered vessel. The Hansens also operate Southwest Florida Yachts with a fleet of sailing and power cruising vessels available for charter.

              In all, FS&CS offers 23 options for taking any one or more of power or sailing courses covering basic vessel handling, coastal cruising, bareboat chartering, coastal navigation and cruising and offshore navigation. Tuition ranges from $395 for a two-day course to $2795 for a 12-day offshore adventure. Tuition fees include a sleeping cabin. Students can even bring a friend or a family member who can stay on the vessel for half-price. Courses are scheduled to suit student vacation schedules.

              The school has two courses that are not liveaboard courses. The First Mate course, $195, combines study on the vessel and in a classroom. Safe Boating 101, $40, teaches boating terminology, knots and lines, chart reading and much more.

              Courses in powerboat safety, handling and cruising are held at company headquarters at Marinatown Marina on the Caloosahatchee across the river from the city of Fort Myers.  The “classrooms” are single and twin-engine cruising boats from 32 to 42 feet long.

              Sailing courses are held at the sailing fleet headquarters -- Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda where the boats are in the water and ready to sail.

              Florida Sailing and Cruising School is an official Certification Facility for the American Sailing Association (ASA). All sail and power courses have the seal of approval of the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators.  Indeed, upon completion of the course, students may qualify for a discount on their vessel insurance. All instructors are U.S. Coast Guard licensed captains with successful teaching backgrounds and experienced in cruising and yacht maintenance.