Alamitos Bay Sailing, Long Beach

Tucked within the protected confines of its eponymous inlet, Alamitos Bay Sailing helps prospective sea dogs earn their legs. During in-depth lessons, students move from the basics of boat handling to the navigation and radio skills that allow them to make short trips on their own. Following these lessons, those whose thirst for sailing skills remains unsatiated can avail themselves of crew training on the school's 80-foot schooner Tiama, embarking on a three-day voyage that makes them eligible to crew on charters and tell nosy family members that they are married—to the sea. Those willing to join the Long Beach Sailing Club can also charter the fleet's newest acquisition, the 33-foot Tarten Ten Old School. The green-hulled vessel sports a diesel engine, five fresh bags of sails, and a cockpit to hold six sailors.