Step up to true offshore sailing with Sea Safaris’ ASA 108: Offshore Passagemaking course, departing from South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee.

This advanced five-day liveaboard course is designed for experienced sailors who want to confidently plan and execute multi-day, nonstop passages while sailing day and night away from the comfort of the marina.

Over five days aboard, you’ll stand watches, sail through the night, and experience real offshore decision-making during extended legs across the Great Lakes. Students rotate through the roles of skipper, watch captain, navigator, helmsman, lookout, and crew while working together to safely operate the vessel around the clock.

Our route will be shaped by weather and lake conditions. The passage is planned to include at least 72 continuous hours and 100 nautical miles without touching land, meeting the passage requirements for ASA 108 while providing genuine passagemaking experience rather than a series of day sails.

What You’ll Learn

ASA 108 develops the advanced navigation, seamanship, leadership, and decision-making skills required to manage an extended offshore passage, including:

• Long-term passage planning and weather routing
• Great Circle routes and rhumb-line plotting
• Offshore route selection and voyage preparation
• Vessel and crew preparation
• Food provisioning and water management
• Power management and boat systems underway
• Night sailing, navigation lights, and collision avoidance
• Offshore watch schedules and watchkeeping responsibilities
• Maintaining an accurate vessel log
• Celestial navigation and obtaining fixes underway
• Advanced sail handling and sail planning
• Heavy-weather preparation and strategies
• Offshore safety and emergency procedures
• Crew-overboard prevention and recovery
• Fire, lightning strike, dismasting, and equipment-failure response
• Offshore first aid and medical considerations
• Abandon-ship procedures and survival equipment
• Routine maintenance, troubleshooting, and repairs underway
• Preventing chafe and addressing rigging or sail damage
• Skipper responsibilities, crew leadership, and offshore decision-making

Students will rotate through the responsibilities involved in continuously operating the vessel. This includes standing watches, navigating, monitoring weather and traffic, maintaining onboard systems, managing resources, completing routine vessel checks, and making decisions as conditions change.

Previous celestial navigation training will be put into practice during the passage. Students will apply advanced navigation skills to passage planning and execution while completing the required celestial observations and fixes underway.

Prerequisites

Students entering ASA 108 should hold:

ASA 106 Advanced Coastal Cruising

ASA 107: Celestial Navigation or ASA 117: Basic Celestial Endorsement

These advanced certifications build upon the earlier ASA 101, ASA 103, ASA 104, and ASA 105 standards. Students should arrive able to demonstrate the knowledge and practical skills covered throughout that certification pathway.

ASA 108 is intended for experienced sailors who are physically and mentally prepared for extended periods underway, interrupted sleep, nighttime sailing, watch rotations, changing weather, and the demands of living and working aboard during a nonstop passage.

What’s Included

Course tuition includes:

• Five days of advanced liveaboard sailing instruction
• ASA 108: Offshore Passagemaking instruction
• An offshore passage planned to include at least 72 continuous hours and 100 nautical miles without touching land
• ASA 108 textbook and course materials mailed to the student upon sign-up, ahead of class
• ASA 108 written examination and practical skills assessment
• ASA 108 certification upon successful completion
• Instruction from professional USCG-licensed captains

All of your sailing time aboard our training sailboat, including use of the boat and all required navigation tools, and safety equipment

The exact route and passage schedule will be determined by weather, wind, lake conditions, and the captain’s judgment. Evaluating those conditions and adapting the passage plan are important parts of learning to cruise safely offshore.

Course Tuition

• Private Cabin – Single Passenger (Solo) = $4097.00 pp
• Shared Cabin = $3427.00 pp
• Salon Berth (Shared Living Area) = $2967.00 pp

Move beyond coastal cruising and experience what it takes to plan, navigate, and manage a true offshore passage. Select an available course date below and reserve your place aboard!