2027 Sailing Schedule

Liveaboard sail training

Our 100% liveaboard sail training and cruising prep program offers an educational experience for people of all levels who want to prepare for anything from weekend sails to long-term cruising and ocean passage making. Learn more about our beloved training vessel Rocinante.

The first half of our 2027 season will be based in The Mediterranean Sea:

Our 2027 sailing school schedule will start the spring cruising The Greek Islands. We are offering two Corfu/Albania based coastal expeditions (270 & 271).

We will then begin our longer passage expeditions in late April to take advantage of the mild temperatures and off-season

If you are following the American Sailing curriculum, we offer 104 certification on our coastal expeditions. These are optional certifications. You do not have to be on the ASA track to join us on any of our trips. We offer these certifications solely as a service to students who request it. This does not affect our overall mission, quality of our courses, or expedition objectives. Please note, we do not offer ASA 101 or 103 certification, as those classes should be taken on smaller boats, appropriate to the course material.

The second half of our season will take us across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean Sea in six passage making legs.

Morse Alpha’s offshore passages are designed to give sailors the real experience. The ocean is the classroom, but this is not a theory class or YouTube video. You are standing watches, making decisions, navigating, analyzing weather forecasts, checking on board systems, and actively ensuring safety for all. Offshore sailing is about preparation, sound judgment, communication, endurance, and routines. You learn how to exist in an unnatural environment. You experience the flow of big weather systems and the affects they have on wind and sea over weeks, not days. You’ll learn how sail choices and course adjustments are often not made for speed, but for comfort, or managing fatigue.

Listen to our Morning Muster Podcast episode on Transatlantic Crossings from West to East.

Choose from two one way passages between Italy and Greece:

Sailing Course Descriptions

We base each expedition on these broad goals, but please note, our program is subject to change due to weather, illness, safety, or other unforeseen circumstances.

261, 262, 264, 265 • Rockland, Maine • Coastal w/ Offshore Overnight Sail

The coast is where all the action and challenge is: commercial traffic, rocks, tides and currents. Maine is one of the most difficult areas to sail in the US, notorious for large tides and thick fog—but the beauty is unbeatable! These expeditions feature long days of lessons, planning, navigation, drills, scenarios and fun. We’ll sail among the islands, ledges, and schooners of Maine’s bold coast, most likely encountering some fog and other challenges along the way. These Coastal & Offshore expeditions will anchor in a different harbor each night with one overnight sail of approximately 100nm so you can learn and experience watch standing routines and protocols for passages.

6 Days • 261 • May 25-30 • 200nm • $3600
6 Days • 262 • June 1-6 • 200nm • $3600
6 Days • 264 • June 15-20 • 200nm • $3600
6 Days • 265 • June 22-27 • 200nm • $3600

263 • Rockland – Yarmouth (Roundtrip)

This multi-day expedition include a round trip passage from Rockland to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. This will be a challenging expedition of approximately 300nm that will require 2 separate overnight passages. You’ll experience big tides and currents, commercial fishing traffic, ocean waves, rapidly shifting weather, fog, and a foreign country check-in. We plan to make a quick overnight stop in Yarmouth (weather dependent) for some leg stretching ashore. This roundtrip expedition packs in ALOT of coastal and offshore sailing miles, plus the added convenience of both departure and arrival in Rockland.

7 Days • June 7-13 • 350nm • $4600

266 • Maine – Newfoundland

Join us for Leg 1 of the Atlantic Crossing. We will sail in Penobscot Bay, cross The Bay Of Fundy, round the infamous Cape Sable, where the current can get up to 4 knots, and make way for St. Pierre, a French Territory. After a stopover in St. Pierre for un petit taste de France, we will head East towards St. John’s. This will be our 3rd expedition to Newfoundland, a most magical destination.

13 Days • July 2-14 • 1000nm • $8600

267 • Newfoundland – Azores

Leg 2 of the Atlantic Crossing, is the bulk of the crossing. We will depart Newfoundland, head south to find whales and an anchorage, before heading east for the Azores. We plan to make landfall in Horta, then explore some of the other Azorian Islands, before finishing the crossing in Ponta Delgada. Celestial navigation will be a part of the offshore curriculum.

15 Days • July 18-Aug 1 • 1300nm • $9800

268 • Azores – Gibraltar

Leg 3 of the Atlantic Crossing. The Azores are beautiful, but after a night or two at anchor, we will leave their volcanoes behind as we continue East towards the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea – The Straits of Gibraltar, where its only 8miles to Africa. Hone your offshore sailing skills on this 1000nm passage, and gain experience standing watches, using a sextant and navigating our way to the Med.

13 Days • August 6-18 • 1000nm • $8500

269 • Gibraltar – Barcelona

This exciting passage from the mouth of the Med to the rugged Spanish coastline and the Balearic Islands is a gorgeous sail through history and culture. We have miles to make, so this won’t be a leisurely cruise. But we’ll be sailing the best of the Western Med, while honing your navigation and seamanship skills.

10 Days • August 23- September 1 • 650nm • $6600

2610, 2611 • Rome – Greece

This passage through the Mediterranean Sea of approximately 650nm packs a lot into a short time frame. We will be traversing some of the best of the Med—the entire Amalfi Coast, The Strait of Messina, crossing the Ionian Sea, and exploring The Ionian Islands and Corfu, Greece. If time permits, we’ll try to find stops along the way to rest, explore, and soak in the history, culture and cuisine. There will be multi-day passages to plan, opportunities to anchor, and hopefully Med Moor. This will be the perfect combination of real passage making and real Med cruising.

*Course 2611 is a shoulder season course, and extra days have been added to account for potential weather delays.

10 Days • September 28 – October 7 • 650nm • $5000
14 Days • November 1 – November 14 • 650nm • $7000

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
A superb program run by top-tiered people. The level of experience and abilities of the instructors was palpable and definitely what you want in the team facilitating such a course.  Well thought out and well executed. 5 stars!
  
 
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 Sam 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
I had an amazing experience sailing for a week with Morse Alpha Expeditions!  This was a very hands-on course and allowed me the freedom to focus on topics I really wanted to dig into, such as navigation.  The instructors Ben and Sockeye were terrific and so much fun!  No matter how many times I screwed up they remained kind, patient and willing to teach.  Rocinante is a fantastic boat to learn on with the right amount of sails, rigging and equipment to gain a solid education in the mechanics of sailing the boat, without being so much as to be overwhelming.  Coastal Maine is unbelievably gorgeous and made for a beautiful backdrop to our expedition.  I absolutely plan to sail with Morse Alpha again next year.
  
 
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 Scott Robertson 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
The Morse Alpha Expedition that I was on was from 7/21/24 to 7/26/24. It was an offshore sail from Rockland, Maine to Newport, Rhode Island. My overall opinion on this expedition left me very satisfied. The instructors attempt to cover as many topics as possible during your trip. Some topics are covered numerous times and some topics are barely touched upon. This is because of the nature of sailing itself where sometimes you must have the situation occur to properly instruct on certain items. Our instructors, Tara and Sockeye, were top notch professionals that we learned to trust very quickly. They asked every day about your goals and they would do their best to try to help you achieve any goal that was set. My top four items learned on this trip are chart navigation, sail handling, mooring and anchoring. I recommend this course for anyone wanting to increase sailing confidence under the watchful eye of professional captains.
  
 
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 Lawrence Hoppius 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
I can’t recommend this course highly enough 5 starts all the way! Amazing boat and instructors! I have never sailed for more than a day at a time and never offshore.  My family and I have dreams of becoming a cruising family. It was so helpful to be able to cruise offshore, get an introduction to the skills needed and see if it’s something we actually want to do. It was great to be able to do this trip prior to doing American sailing courses. Now I know I want to invest the money. I will do AS with confidence and get my rating for bareboat sailing so we can do a charter as a family. I also feel like I know the areas I need to work on and improve sailing my own boat. Again, amazing trip, incredibly qualified instructors, fantastic future networking and opportunities to learn with Morse Alpha. Ben, Teresa, Tara and Sockeye have so much experience to share. Thank you for a formative and empowering sailing expedition!
  
 
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 Grant Berger 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
Hands down the BEST sailing course EVER. We did a week as a family in preparation for beginning our cruising life and feel so grateful for the useful and relevant training in navigation, weather reading, seamanship, and more. We learned more than we humanly thought possible and had the best time doing it. Great instructors, great food, great attitude and approach- we felt thoroughly  grounded in not only the “what” but the “why” of different sailing choices, which will much better prepare us for the inevitable changing circumstances we will face going forward. Thank you Morse Alpha!!
  
 
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 Learning Together 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
Long overdue review! Morse Alpha Expeditions... In a word FANTASTIC. I participated in a five day coastal expedition. The overall experience was comprehensive and most of all enjoyable. Every aspect of what duties one needs to perform in order to execute a coastal passage was succinctly taught in a calm and professional manner. Line handling, anchoring, sail trim, traditional navigation, preventative maintenance, watchstanding, safety, and a night passage. I came into this course not knowing what to do first with regards to sailing and now I am fully prepared to handle my own boat. A great time was had by all. If you're thinking about it just do it!
  
 
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 Murky 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
Just came back from my first Morse Alpha expedition, and it was exceptional. I’ve had prior sailing experience, but my knowledge improved significantly during this adventure. All I can say is that this is professional, well run, tight ship! I would absolutely do this again without any hesitation. Can’t wait for the next one…
  
 
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 Ariel Shlien 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
This was an amazing experience. The instructors were knowledgeable, responsive teachers and all around fun people. The course focused on developing practical skills and creative problem solving in context. We faced some challenging conditions especially with navigation in heavy fog and the instructor helped us to gel as a team to overcome those challenges. I'm an experienced kayaker with only a little sailing experience, but my wife is a more experienced sailor and we both found this to be one of the best courses we've ever taken. Thanks Ben, Sockeye, and Morse Alpha for a fun week full of learning.
  
 
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 Kerry Browne 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
Great experience; Ben and Tara were very knowledgeable on so many facets of sailing, boat handling, and weather. Large focus of expedition (for me) was on the big picture; the where's and how's of planing a voyage. Scaled the information to fit my understanding; left with new sailing skill sets, memories and had plenty of opportunities to practice. 10 out of 10.
  
 
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 Nate 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
  
I absolutely reccomend sailing with Morse Alpha! The booking and planning process was seemless and the precourse communication from Ben and Teresa was informative and thorough, making the day we climbed aboard worry-free! The trip itself was fantastic. As someone who always wanted to learn to sail but joined this expedition with absolutely no experience, I wasn't sure what to expect. Ben and Tara were exceptional teachers. They approached the week by giving you upfront lessons on important skills or knowledge and then filled the days with hands on experience. The freedom and space you have to learn by doing and by sailing with your crew was incredible. You sail A LOT, all day, with very little down time, and it's amazing! By the end of the week there is almost no hands on intervention and you're really able to test your skills and build confidence in what you've learned. Oh, and of course, the food was amazing, the company was even better and you can't beat the views on the Maine Coast. If you're even considering this trip...do it!
  
 
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 Rachel Taylor 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
    
 
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Who will my instructors be?

Our team is comprised of excellent sailors, who are also superior educators. Ben is the primary captain and leads 85% of the expeditions. Teresa has been staying home with Haven, our 7 year old. Our primary mates are Courtney and Tara. They have worked with us since 2021. They are both USCG licensed captains, and educators through and through. We also have an alternate captain, John Calogero, who leads a few trips each summer. John is another seasoned sailor and educator, whom we trust to lead a quality expedition and take care of Rocinante! You can read about our team here.

Other Offerings:

We also offer trainings and deliveries on your boat in special cases. If you don’t see an expedition here that fits your schedule or needs, please contact us to inquire about our other offerings.