Salty Solution to the Shopping Blues

Got the Christmas shopping blues? If you’re perplexed about what to buy for hard-to-shop-for friends or family members, we may have the perfect solution: Invest in their mental and physical well-being by giving them a sailing gift certificate.

If they already know the basics, consider pre-paying for a next-level course at a sailing school or with an accomplished private instructor. Or, if they are a seasoned recreational sailor with dreams of cruising, consider buying them a course in something like advanced offshore navigation, understanding weather, diesel maintenance or spinnaker flying. A related option, of course, is to simply buy them a gift certificate from a favorite online or brick-and-mortar marine store where you know they love to shop.

Kids are prime candidates for sailing gift certificates too. Rather than buying them yet another gift that will keep them stuck on the couch or cloistered away in their bedrooms, consider buying them a hands-on dinghy sailing course, or perhaps a berth for a week on a traditionally rigged ‘school ship’.

By chosing any of the above, you could save yourself a boatload of angst, plus hours of aimless wandering through shopping malls. And your gifts may well be the ones that those special sailors in your life appreciate most of all. Who knows, you might even help steer them toward an exciting future of on-the-water fun.