THE INSTRUCTORS
PPatti Moore and Carol Cuddyer own Sea Sense, based in St. Petersburg, Florida. Founded in 1990, the school offers hands-on boating instruction, teaching deliveries and organized on-water adventures.
Moore grew up in Georgia. She first stepped onto a boat in her mid-20s and later married a sailor. The couple moved to Florida, built a 39-foot sailboat, and moved aboard. Moore earned her captain’s license and started doing boat deliveries and charters.
“The more I learned, the more I wanted to share the knowledge I’d learned the hard way with other women,” Moore says. “I taught for different sailing schools, and that’s how I met Carol.”
Cuddyer grew up boating on New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee. She married a charter fisherman, and together they sailed the Northeast.
“My husband convinced me to get my captain’s license,” she says. “I didn’t know any woman captains. In the 1980s, women were either making sandwiches or holding on for dear life. I felt it was important to change that.”
Then she and Moore worked a charter together in Florida. They talked about starting a school that would teach both sailing and powerboating, and Sea Sense was born.
The school had an 85-15 percent sail-power ratio in the beginning, but 31 years later, those numbers are reversed. Cuddyer and Moore sold their school boat years ago and now offer individualized instruction on private boats.
“Boomers were aging, and more of them have powerboats, which are all so different,” Cuddyer says. “We couldn’t meet everyone’s needs with one school boat, so we evolved.”
While Sea Sense focused on women in the early years, roughly 80 to 85 percent of its customers today are couples who want to go cruising.
“They want to learn together,” Moore says. “Even if one partner has more experience, they know they need to be able to take care of each other in two-person situations like docking and close-quarters maneuvering.
“Your boat grows to the size of an aircraft carrier when you’re at the helm,” Moore continues. “We had one woman learn docking so well, she never looked back. Her husband was so proud of her.”
In some cases, the woman is the more experienced partner. Cuddyer recalls an experienced boat handler whose husband was new to the lifestyle.
“She had to put his golf clubs on the boat to get him to go,” she says, laughing.
Moore and Cuddyer also continue to teach solo women. Sometimes, they’re boat owners who wish to learn to singlehand their vessels—like one Selene 53 skipper from the Pacific Northwest.
“She wanted to take her friends up to the Canadian islands and Ketchikan,” Moore says. “She hired us to come out and teach her, and she nailed it.”
Due to COVID-19, Cuddyer and Moore have suspended school operations until the pandemic wanes. They say the decision was a difficult one.
“We miss it terribly,” Cuddyer says. “But thinking of all the people we’ve taught, and all the memories we’ve made, is making me smile.”
Moore says simply, “We’re very lucky to do something we love.”
“THE MORE I LEARNED, THE MORE I WANTED TO SHARE THE KNOWLEDGE I’D LEARNED THE HARD WAY WITH OTHER WOMEN. I TAUGHT FOR DIFFERENT SAILING SCHOOLS, AND THAT’S HOW I MET CAROL.”