BackNext

He'll Teach You How To Run Your Boat
by Lois Fecteau
Staff Writer

A licensed ocean operator with more than 25 years experience, Capt. Don Fleming of Ossining-on-Hudson, N.Y., offers more than just the usual professional captaining services.

Rated for both power and sailing vessels up to 100 tons, Fleming specializes in hands-on training for beginners or seasoned boaters looking to upgrade their skills on their own boats.

Fleming originally started teaching boat handling as an offshoot of his charter and delivery services. "After I gained a following of owners, I realized a lot of these guys didn't know how to operate their own boats that well, so I would teach them a few tricks of the trade," Fleming says. "I started informally, just going from boat to boat."

Then about 10 years ago, Fleming, a professional educator, decided to stress boat handling instruction. "I had read an article in Soundings, actually, back in the eighties about the need for training and how nobody was doing this at the time," Fleming says. "So I decided to really emphasize training and the business has just kept growing so that now 80 percent of what I do is boat handling training."

In recent years, Fleming has teamed up with a number of yacht clubs, marinas and boat dealers to offer boat handling instruction for individuals or families on their own boats from the Chesapeake to Maine.

"I find there's a real need for this," Fleming says. "Boating has changed. It's not the same as it used to be when people grew up with a family or yacht club tradition. Especially in the 80's, you had a lot of people getting into it who didn't always know what they were doing. A lot of these boats sit at the docks and hardly ever go out because the owners aren't confident."

Fleming says his educational background has been a real plus in helping boaters of all skill levels to improve. "Being in education I know how to explain things to people from ground zero," says Fleming, who has taught high school English. "I'm also real careful not to go over what people already know. The whole thing is very individualistic."

Bassett Boat Co., in South Norwalk, Conn., has worked with Fleming for about four years now. "We've always had what we call delivery captains, but Don takes it a step further," says Robert Jarrett, Bassett Boat general manager. "We use him a lot on the instruction end. There's not anybody in his league."

Having a pro like Fleming handle instruction means Jarrett's sales staff can focus on selling. "Small boats we do ourselves but with the larger boats, the salesmen really can't afford to take the time and none of us have the skills that Don does in big boat operation and navigation, plus he has an education background," Jarrett says. "He's a very good educator."

Jarrett says offering boat handling instruction is part of Bassett Boat's overall commitment to providing quality service to their customers. "We like to give new buyers a full on-water orientation, make sure they know how to dock and know basic seamanship so they start off on the right foot," Jarrett says. "This is all part of the kind of dealership we want to be. I think that's the dealership of the future. The dealers that will last will be those that stand for integrity and service to the customer."

Jarrett also believes there is a real need for boat handling instruction like Fleming provides.

"We have to find ways in our industry to get more people involved in the sport," Jarrett says. "There's a lot to know and you need to approach it knowledgeably and safely. Don is very professional. We've never had anything but real positive results with him. I'm glad I've got him. I don't know what I'd do without him."

Fleming raced sailboats in college and later became sailing director of the City Island, N .Y., sailing school. He has run a charter fleet, been a yacht broker and had a boat maintenance company. He also writes articles on boat handling for publications like "Boating on the Hudson" and does guest lectures for U.S. Power Squadrons.

"I'm in favor of everybody getting every kind of training they can," Fleming says. "What I do is not in conflict with the courses offered by the Power Squadrons or the Coast Guard Auxiliary but there's nothing like getting out on the water and doing the hands-on."

A lot of what Fleming does is confidence building. "I have worked out a number of practical steps to do that. You have to get the owner in slightly anxious situations for him to see what the boat is capable of doing and what he's capable of doing," Fleming says. "You need to get the feel of it."

Some of Fleming's clients are new boaters. Some are moving to bigger boats. And some have come to him at the end of their boating ropes. " A number of people have said to me, 'If this doesn't work, I'm going to sell the boat.' "

Fleming finds a lot of these boaters are especially nervous about docking. " A per- son can lose his confidence very easily especially coming into a crowded area," Fleming says. "1 do it step by step, have them do easy maneuvering first so they under- stand what circumstances are affecting the boat. I teach them to analyze the situation, the wind and current, so that there are no surprises, and stress the importance of always planning an escape. Most of it is anticipating what's going to happen."

Fleming admits he is a traditionalist particularly when it comes to navigation. "1 feel strongly that all boaters need to know the basics of navigation and be able to plot on a chart. Too many people just know how to push buttons and they wind up in a lot of trouble if things fail. Too many people are too trusting and too reliant on computers," Fleming says. "Forty percent of the time I've sailed to Bermuda, the electronics have either failed completely or almost failed completely."

About 75 percent of Fleming's clients are powerboat owners, but he also does quite a bit of ocean passage training with sailboat owners. ."I often work with someone who has a boat capable of making an ocean passage who has not gone offshore and wants to be trained," Fleming says. "We'll usually do a run to Bermuda or a 200-mile run offshore. I like to get them out to the Gulf Stream, see some rough weather and do some celestial navigation."

Fleming encourages husbands and wives to train together as a team. "I've found that works out the best."

Fleming says. "the cost of the training is in line with individual golf, tennis or skiing lessons."

Fleming also offers a host of professional captaining ser- vices, including charters, de- liveries and business entertainment. With regular customers whose boats he knows, he also offers an ex- tended vacation service, where he will either pick up or drop off their boat. "If someone wants to take a two- week cruise but they want to do it in Maine or Nova Scotia or the Chesapeake, I can get their boat there for them," Fleming says. "A lot of people don't realize that that service exists."

What Fleming finds most satisfying is getting post- cards from exotic ports visited by boaters he has trained. "That's the greatest feeling in the world," he says. "People spend a lot of money on their boats. I want them to enjoy it."