Captain Chris Day

Captain Christopher Day grew up in England, where his love for the sea was born. Chris is a certified American Sailing Association (ASA) Instructor as well as a Charter Captain and an Instructor of our Trawler Training Classes. He has Skippered boats from 30 to 120 feet in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. Chris also enjoys gardening and art; however, it is his first love, boating, that he feels offers a personal challenge that puts one in touch with Nature.

Capt. Don Bentley learned to sail on Corps of Engineers lakes in Pennsylvania. His love of sailing grew and he earned his ASA certification in 1992.  Captain Don began teaching sailing in 1998.  Don has a Ph.D. in Student Development and is a full-time educator.  Currently he is a High School guidance counselor and teaches sailing for FS&CS on the weekends and during school holidays.  Don is also a certified Divemaster and enjoys sailing and cruising on his own boat.  Captain Don enjoys helping others learn to sail because of the confidence they gain in themselves as a result.

Captain Charlie Ryan is a lifelong boating advocate who followed his love of the water and all things nautical into his life’s vocation. He is now retired from two separate careers – first as a naval officer and secondly as an executive with Honeywell International Inc. His love of boating began with competitive sailing dinghy racing at age 8 and cruising aboard family boats on the Great Lakes through his high school and college years. He later owned a series of his own boats – both power and sail. During his navy years, Charlie spent more than a dozen years at sea in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and served part of that time as captain of two destroyer-class ships.

Captain Charlie holds a 100 Ton U.S. Coast Guard Masters License. Charlie particularly enjoys helping boaters improve their yachting skills. When not boating on his own cruiser or working as a yacht delivery captain, Charlie and can often be found teaching boating at Southwest Florida Yachts and the Florida Sailing and Cruising School. Captain Charlie lives with his wife Ricki in Fort Myers and also spends some time during the summer at their cottage on the Chesapeake Bay.

After a few, now comical missteps, Captain Steve Lineberry learned to sail on Kentucky Lake. When he stepped away from a career in office products, Steve turned to his love of sailing as a second career. He started his boating profession in 1993. Since that time he has received his 100 tom USCG Master’s License and American Sailing Association (ASA) instructor certification through the Advanced Coastal Cruising level. His teaching skills have earned him ASA’s annual “Outstanding Instructor” Award eleven times!

Captain Steve enjoys all types of boating and is an avid scuba diver.

Steve’s job as a professional Captain along with his own personal cruising adventures have taken him from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas, along the East Coast of the U.S. and throughout the Caribbean. His greatest reward is seeing his students discover their own nautical abilities along with seeing the joy his students experience as they learn to handle a boat on their own.

I have over 40 Years of sail and power boat operation. I started sailing when I was 9 years old and competing in races at 14. I was the Texas State Junior Champion on Dolphin Class sailboats at 16. I joined the Coast Guard out of High School and retired after 20 years of service in the Aviation branch as a Helicopter Crewman and Navigator on the C- 130 Hercules. I have three kids. (Two grown adults, one 16) I live in Tampa, Fl., and have lived on the Gulf Coast my whole life.

I am a Licensed Captain with Towing Endorsement, ASA 101, 103, 104 Instructor. Recreational Power Boating Assoc. (RPBA) Certified Instructor on Directed Thrust, Multi-Engine and Single Engine Close Quarters Power Boat Handling and Power Boating Made Easy. I am the owner and operator of my own yacht delivery business. My hobbies include playing guitar, and anything that allows me to be on the water!

I have a huge respect for people who seek professional instruction in boating.

For me, instruction allows me to keep reviewing the fundamentals of boating.

I NEVER stop learning along with my students. My years of experience mean nothing to me until I pass on what I have learned over my four decades of boating. There is nothing like being a part of bringing new people into the boating life.