The Community Boating organization based out of Boston, Massachusetts is an amazing group. When I was there in 2000, they were running a program offering free instructions and sailing to all youths 16 and under. For adults, you paid $50 for a coastal piloting course and after you passed, that $50 gave you the right to sail with no further charges for thee rest of the summer. You sail on the Boston River, which is just next to MIT where I spent my undergraduate years. Looks like now there is a small fee for the youth, but I’m sure it’s still a great deal.

It’s not an internationally recognized certification, but it was my first experience on a sailboat and I’m still sailing because of it. The Coastal Piloting certificate I obtained is below.