A total bust.
My…read morehusband and I bought the Groupon deal for a half hour sailing lesson and an hour boat rental. All started out well enough--sign this, initial there, run down of the boat, the wind etc. (see a photo of the "clear" diagram that we were given). We got on the boat and for the first 15 minutes or so our instructor, Rob, showed us the ins and outs of sailing the boat. Then my husband took to it...keep in mind that this was the first time either of us had stepped foot on a sail boat.
The first few minutes went well. Rob gave instructions on what to do and when to do it. That is were the good part ended. Rob began pressuring my husband to "make a decision" about what should happen instead of guiding him through a thought process or what should happen in those particular instances. Rob kept saying things like, "you're driving, you need to make a decision" or "we've been out here for a while, you should know this by now." Although we told him we had never been on a sailboat before, Rob kept assuming that we knew what we were doing, instead of giving us guidance and reassurance along the way. After about 10 minutes on the water, Rob said my husband's last turns were "satisfactory" and to go dock the boat.
As we returned to the dock, a family of three were in the water on paddle boards and kayaks. My husband was instructed to "go around them." Again, little instruction/direction was given here. There was the added pressures of attempting to dock, and avoiding the family in the water. The first attempt didn't go well, so we tried again. Rob was attempting to instruct how to do it, but we got turned around and we were heading towards the beach. Instead of advising the best thing to do, Rob said, "Do something! You've got to make a decision." We ended up running up onto the beach (no biggie-Rob just had to jump out and get us unstuck). We were immediately told we could not rent a boat.
Rob could have either tried again with my husband, and assured he was comfortable enough, OR had me give it a try. After all, we did pay for the boat rental that we are now being told we can't do.
All-in-all it felt as if our "instructor" didn't really care if we were learning or if we were comfortable. It seemed as if he didn't want us to rent a boat from the get go. If you're interested in learning to sail, find someone else that has more patience and a better understanding of what a newbie needs.