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About Us
Windsong was incorporated in 1987 in partnership with the County Parks and Recreation Service and Adult Community Schools across Atlanta. Windsong  as an economical alternative to often expensive commercial sailing schools. The school was founded through support from the community adult education center in DeKalb County. The first classes were conducted on the DeKalb County Community College main campus and later at the North Campus as well. The affordable programs were so successful that the following year additional class locations were added at the DeKalb Area Technical and Georgia State University campuses. 

In 1989 Windsong became Atlanta's first commercial school to earn distinction as an American Sailing Association (A.S.A.) education and certification recreational facility. In 1992 Windsong became approved as a United States Department National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Chart Agent. In 1993 Windsong, previously based on Lake Lanier, added a sailing facility on Lake Allatoona. That same year the Boat Owners Association of the United States (Boat U.S.) appointed Windsong as a Cooperating Group per contract accord. By the end of '93 Windsong was under contract to provide all sailing instruction throughout Cherokee, Cobb, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Hall county parks and recreation centers, which represented the 5 county metropolitan area surrounding Atlanta. In 1994 Windsong became one of North America's ten founding charter members of the U.S. Sailing Association commercial sailing division. 

Over the years, Windsong's success has been credited to the friendly personal staff and professional manner in which it conducts business. The founder is still actively involved today and his presence and values exist through all aspects of the school's activities. 

Windsong's ASA Sailing Instructions, cruises, clinics and fun sails continue to be sponsored by the parks and recreation service, community adult education centers, marinas and sailing centers throughout the surrounding counties ensuring you a comprehensive collection of quality programs at attractive prices. 

In 1997, Windsong centralized sailing operations at Holiday Marina on Lake Lanier and focused ground school locations to convenient sites in Cobb and DeKalb counties in response to changes in customer demographics and to ensure the highest degree of quality and personal service to students. 

During 1999, in response to popular demand, DeKalb Parks and Recreation became our centralized training center due to the close proximity to the major freeways providing the most convenient access to students from all surrounding areas as well as placement along the corridor toward Lake Lanier. 

In 2001, Windsong broke historical new ground when awarded a contract to become Aqualand Marina's first sailing training facility; ever! This expansion of operations added a third Atlanta facility offering ASA Sailing Instructions, cruises, clinics and fun sails. Ground school classes continued to be conducted in the parks facilities located in the communities where our customers lived and worked, but a second on-the-water instruction facility added Aqualand Marina to the Windsong family legacy of sailing centers. 

In 2004, Windsong added the Colgate 26 to their training fleet. With only 300 built to date, this unique and specialized high performance boat was a distinctive addition to the fleet making Windsong the first in the State of Georgia to own one!

In 2005, Windsong partnered with SailTime Atlanta to provide charter training and checkout for club members in addition to offering coastal training and sailing opportunities.

In 2006 Windsong joined Snug Harbor Boats & Company on McEver road to provide centralized training at their facility near Lake Lanier.

In 2007 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was reached between U.S. Sailing and affiliate schools like Windsong to conduct on-the-water operations training for the United States Power Squadron (USPS) and the local Atlanta Sail and Power Squadron.

In 2009 Windsong was voted BEST IN GWINNETT by our customers!

In 2012 Windsong celebrated it's Silver Anniversary of training excellence based in Atlanta.  Lake Lanier Sailing with Windsong is a unique due to proximity to Atlanta's large metropolitan and expanded surrounding county populations. In less than 30 minutes residents can reach Lanier's shores and participate in Windsong's unique and flexible education or recreational outings.

Checkout our many programs providing ASA sailing instructions, cruises, clinics and fun sails.

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Almost 3 decades later, Dave remains actively involved in personal instruction as well as direction of the academy as President and Chairman but says he "does whatever it takes to ensure everyone's combined success". 

Dave has raced and sailed extensively along both the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf and Caribbean Oceans and delivered yachts within the U.S. as well as from St Lucia and to the British Virgin Islands. In 2000, for the new millennium, Dave ventured to the South Pacific and sailed the Kingdom of Tonga in the southern hemisphere, an area Dave says is fairly well untouched by capitalism and tourism feeding enterprises.

In 2015 Dave explored Belize with a return in 2016 when he sailed just over 200 miles of the Belize offshore Mesoamerican Reefs.  The Belize reefs system and Atolls are one of the last remaining healthy reef systems in the world and certainly one of the most challenging navigation destinations he has sailed. 

In 2018 Dave sailed the Georgian and San Juan Islands of Vancouver British Columbia, an area everyone falls absolutely in love with at first sight. 

In 2019 Dave sailed a second time to Tobago Cay, this time sailing from Grenada northward and found the journal quite different than his earlier journey from St Vincent southward 8 years prior. 

Under approval by the U.S. Coast Guard, as a Certified Vessel Examiner (VSE), Dave routinely conducts boat safety inspections as a charitable extension of his continuing focus on education and safety. A former pilot, U.S. Coast Guard licensed Captain and a U.S. Power Squadron Full Certificate Senior Celestial Navigator (SN rank), Dave finds sailing challenging, exciting, scary, peaceful and romantic all at once.

As a computer entrepreneur and competitive athlete with a variety of "Life's Experiences", Dave brings a broad spectrum of business and personal philosophies to the sailing industry that has earned him respect among his peers and competitors.  Dave is very involved in the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce and actively sits on several of the Executive Boards. When not in meetings or stuck at the computer dealing with budgets, financials or legal contracts, Dave loves teaching sailing classes and personally answering questions from students on the phone. Dave is adamant that he be easily accessible to customers and well understands who pays our salaries. No one screens Dave's calls. Often times when you call, he'll beat us all to the phone. "Exceptional" and "Outstanding" service is his credo and we all live or die by those rules! 

When "at rest", Dave loves racquetball, fitness training, hiking, biking, guitar and holding hands with his loving and tolerant wife.

He takes great pride in the large variety of quality programs providing ASA sailing instructions, cruises, clinics and fun sails that Windsong offers.

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Director of Business Systems - Cori Hembree

Cori Hembree started with Windsong as an accounting clerk who just loved being on the water. She was responsible for the operational accounting and reporting for the emerging corporation and her computer aptitude proved to be a real value. After 3 years of increased responsibilities, she became the school's youngest General Manager overseeing the Daily operations throughout the various facilities as well as coordination with our affiliates in Florida. The next 10 years Cori coordinated between students and staff to meet tough objectives for the combined success of our customers and achieving the corporate mission to establish Windsong as a premier provider of quality educational sailing programs. 

January 2003, Cori stepped aside as General Manager and took a sabbatical to complete her masters degree, be with her newborn daughter, spend quality time with her husband and work on their new home on Lake Jackson. In December 2005, Cori returned to Windsong as the Director of Marketing and Strategic Development to focus on the growth and penetration of Windsong into secondary markets and products in addition to the development of strategic business alliances. 

In 2006 Cori celebrated the birth of her son, her second child, and although she says she misses the day-to-day contact with the customers she's still very much committed to making dreams possible for them all while remaining active "behind the scenes".

In 2011 Cori became the Director of Business Systems with responsibilities for expense tracking and forecasting analysis. Cori's depth and breadth of experience in all operational areas is key to the many contributions she's made over the years!

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Director of Operations - Patti Price
An avid sailor and long term activist behind the scenes, Patti is the glue that keeps everyone else where they need to be.  As a long time member of the United States Power Squadron, Lieutenant Commander, a Full Certificate Senior Celestial Navigator (SN rank), past Squadron Chief Education Officer (SEO), U.S. District Associate Education Officer (DEO) and member of the Executive Bridge, she is instrumental throughout the community promoting boating education and safety. At the end of 2012 Patti was awarded the USPS "Lifetime Achievement" award for her service to boating education and service.

Patti who has earned both A.S.A. and U.S. Sailing certifications participates in instruction both on and off the water.  Under approval by the U.S. Coast Guard as a Certified Vessel Examiner (VSE) she conducts boat safety inspections and represents the United States Power Squadron in promoting community involvement in concert with Windsong's operations. 

A retired forensic chemist from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (G.B.I.) crime lab and Georgia Tech alumni, her keen attention to details makes her invaluable.  Patti's primary role is revenue tracking, student records, calendar of classes and oversees many of our legal compliance, accounting, financial, tax and operational aspects. She's keen at picking up all the balls that the rest of us may drop!  She ensures that all the programs providing ASA sailing instructions, cruises, clinics and fun sails reflect the quality and professionalism that is Windsong's hallmark.

When she's at rest, so to speak, she loves gourmet cooking, hiking, biking, fitness training, yoga, Pilates, gardening, piano, sailing and being the wonderful "aunt" to her nieces and nephews and "Grandma Patti" to her grandkids.

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Training Coordinator / Operations Assistant Manager - Pam Long
Pam Long, a former business owner in the Antiques marketplace, is our newest member of the management team. Pam joined our staff in 2006 and quickly forged her place in the lives of our students. She brings with her an eagerness to develop a personal rapport with every student whose dream is to sail.

Her "Can Do" attitude has continued the tradition of excellence and personal service on which the academy was founded.  Those who share their sailing dreams with Pam had them come true under her watchful eye. Pam's primary responsibility was to develop a formal "Training Plan" for every student.  To ensure a realistic success, once a Training Plan was in place, she constantly monitored each student's progress and appraises them of appropriate training opportunities throughout the season to reach their goal. She was a personal coach to guide students through the maze of classes, certifications and sailing destinations.  Her unique training, knowledge and experience were invaluable to the realization of our student's goals.

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Q-So why do students say that they select Windsong?

A-What we do at Windsong is unique and highly personalized. The approach that we take to training is fun, fresh and flexible. It permits students to control their own training program, their unique time frames and meet their specific needs.  We don't embrace the standard cookie cutter approach that is prevalent in the training industry.  We treat students as the unique individuals that they are.  Each come with a different history, prior experience level, future dreams, goals, time and budget constraints.

I think that we offer a tremendous value in return for their time and money. I have daily conversations with prospects that tell me that they've wanted to learn to sail since they were kids, but just never seemed to find the time. Now I find this hard to understand because after some conversation I learn that they also play tennis, golf and take in a movie every now and then.

The issue is that they don't have large blocks of time for recreation but manage to fit in something for a couple of hours several times a month. If you can find time for tennis, you can learn to sail. We do 2-hr sailing training sessions on the water and we designed them to be short for two reasons. The primary one is that anyone can steal away for 2-hrs of recreation a couple times a month. The second is that "nature" seems to call for most of us around that period of time and there's no honor in ignoring our urges, sailing or otherwise! I also feel that when it comes to sailing instruction, we simply do it better than the rest. We have a very unique business model and a very loyal following of students seeking something different in a time frame that best fits their needs.

Q-I've noticed that the ground schools are separate from the sailing outings. Does this mean that students have to separately register and pay for each program? Don't they need both at the same time?

A-Excellent observation! The problem we've seen with other schools is that it's very difficult to tailor classes to each individual's needs and wishes. We've designed a curriculum that addresses the needs of the absolute beginner as well as the experienced, but rusty, seaman who desires to get back into sailing after a period of absence. The beauty of this flexibility is one of time management. 

Our lives today are so complicated and interwoven with demands from the community, our family and our jobs, that the ability to attend a ground school when it fits into your schedule and go sailing on weekends that you're free is of tremendous value. Additionally a unique value to our students is the ability to repeat any ground school class again whenever they wish, as often as they wish, forever! 

How many times have you taken a class and forgotten nearly everything you've learned in as soon as a month afterwards? Every spring we see familiar faces in our ground schools as everyone ramps up for the new season of sailing. Particularly our advanced programs such as the Coastal Navigation class offer students the opportunity to refresh their skills before their annual adventure trips offshore or to the British Virgin Islands. This represents a tremendous value which is unheard of in our industry. Windsong is the pioneer of this concept. 

Q-Why do you offer sailing outings on the lake yet hold the ground schools somewhere else? Why don't you conduct all your training at the lake?

A-You're suggesting that this is a disadvantage. We do conduct on-the-water training classes from Holiday Marina on Lake Lanier. We do have a classroom facility near the lake at the Snug Harbor Boats & Company facility. The Snug Harbor classroom facility is ideal for those coming in from out of town or those desiring weekend ground school classes. We also find that many students desire the flexibility of attending week evening classes at park facilities near the communities where our students live or work saving them a potentially long drive to the lake. We don't find many students desiring both classroom training and sailing outings the same day or weekend. It's just way too much to realistically comprehend and retain. 

Spreading the training out over several months as you might any other recreational activity is the ideal approach in moderation and economy. It's a matter of time management and convenience. Students can choose to attend classes at their convenience; on their time table, at the location of their preference, near home, the office or at the lake. Life is way too complicated to try to tackle all that sailing has to offer in a single weekend or two and that's assuming that you can find a full weekend free to do so.

Q-So what is a typical sailing outing like? What can a student expect?

A-We always bring 'em back alive! I'm sorry, I had to say that because that's what I always tell the spouses who come to the docks to see the students off. We always bring 'em back smiling and hungry for more! Sailing is a recreation, much like tennis or golf, only cheaper and I think more rewarding. How can I say that? You can't take your entire family golfing or put everyone on the tennis court. Okay, perhaps you could, but typically their interests are more varied than that. 

Sailing is unique because partners with varying skill levels can participate together in the activity. That's not true of golf or tennis or many other recreational activities. Sailing is the great equalizer. Your skills and knowledge don't have to match to enjoy this sport together. The kids feel at ease and at home aboard the boats with their parents.

Each person must bring something different with them, and they all do. Sailing offers something for everyone. Some people are quite content just taking in the scenery, smelling the fresh air or steering. Some aren't happy unless their grinding the winches and doing the navigation. Others don't care what their swimming platform looks like and a sailboat is just as good as anything else. 

Sailing is a unique recreation. Our ASA sailing instructions, cruises, clinics and fun sails provide a multitude of ways students can enjoy the sport and recreation. We have to train students with all these things in mind. Our instructors are acutely attuned to the needs and wishes of our students. A typical outing is two hours filled with action packed challenging drills and absolutely relaxing doing nothing. 

I know you're thinking that what I just said was a contradiction. If you ask our students to describe a typical outings, you're likely to hear both things that I mentioned. We fulfill the dreams and wishes of our students. You tell us your dream and we'll get you there. Your dream could be relaxing and doing nothing, but having the knowledge to do what it takes to take charge or understand the proper direction of the crew when the need arises. 

With knowledge comes comfort. Many couples can't enjoy sailing together because they don't understand the physics and theory required to make it all look so easy. Excuse me. It is easy. But it's easy because everyone knows what they're doing. It's only hard if you make it hard. I always tell students that the more of the muscle you use that lies between your ears, the less of the other muscles that will be required. 

Sailing is more of a mental exercise than a physical one. One can make it more physical than necessary due to lack of knowledge and understanding, but it's really more mental than physical.  Education is a mission of challenges that are met one at a time. With the passage of time, great accomplishments become self evident. But you have to do the time. There are absolutely no short cuts! 

Sailing skills and knowledge can't be achieved in just two or three classes. Everyone knows that. Some simply choose to ignore the facts. At Windsong we provide the most comprehensive forum for training and hey, we have great fun doing it!

Okay, finally to answer your direct question. A typical two hour sailing outing consists of assigning students to the various positions on the boat for departure, hoisting the sails, sailing maneuvers, dousing the sails, and docking the boat. Every 10 minutes we stir the bucket and everyone changes positions. The primary focus is on learning to take direction and understanding the various requests. When students begin to understand what is expected of them and no longer require individual direction on the mechanics of each tasks, they begin to function without having to be told what's required at each phase of the sailing drills. 

Everyone has different goals and for some students, this is their goal. They want to know, when someone is yelling at them, what they're expected to do. Once they reach this level of ability and understanding they realize that there are higher goals they aspire to. They want to be able to proactively do whatever is required before someone yells at them to do something. Now all this yelling is usually coming from their "special significant other". Yelling is not allowed or taught on our training boats. We don't yell, we sail, but we do it right. The focus is on having fun while accidentally learning new things through discovery. 

Once a student becomes self sufficient in determining and reacting to the changing situations on the sailboat, we begin to teach them what everyone else on the boat is supposed to be doing in concert with their actions. By this time they've done every position on the boat themselves, so they know what is expected of each position on the boat. 

At this stage, we teach them to proactively direct the activities of everyone else on the boat much like the director of a symphony. Things have to happen in unison. This takes some time because they have to learn that everyone responds and thinks differently. Just because they give you an inch it doesn't make you a ruler! Excuse me. What I'm trying to say is that just because you're in charge doesn't mean you're a dictator. 

We teach patience and understanding. We remind the students that they required lots of patience when they first started out and now they must pay their dues in kind to others. You have to be a coach and psychologist. Earlier I mentioned the key word, "Proactively". If you merely react to situations, you're already behind the curve. Our typical student sails with us all season. The programs are priced to enable students to sail over an extended period of time that is not going to break the family budget. 

By the time students have sailed a while with us, they've seen all the things that can go wrong. They've learned to anticipate them. They know the common mistakes others will make. They're ready for them. They become Proactive. You can't develop this judgment and experience in the programs taught by other schools over a couple of outings. How long did it take you to develop safe judgment based on experience driving a car? Some folks are still working on that one today! Sailing isn't much different in that respect. It takes time and guidance.

Once students have mastered the direction of others, we begin the solo training. At first they sail blind folded but assisted by the crew. They begin to learn to sail by the seat of their pants, so to speak. I'm a pilot and have flown for many years. My best training was with all the instrument fuses in my shirt pocket. You and the sailboat have to become one. You have to feel and think like the boat. You have to learn its personality. 

Initially students think the boat is "possessed" and has a mind of its own. As they truly learn and appreciate the physics of the boat, they learn that it too has a personality. Blind folded sailing focuses on the wind on your face, the angle of heel of the boat and the sound of the boat through the water. It makes you "feel" the forces of the boat. Quickly you feel the "groove" of the boat. 

You can't appreciate this drill until you've learned the basics of sailing. We're talking about advanced appreciation here. We're talking about sailing becoming second nature. Like driving a car, tuning the radio, talking on the cell phone and eating a burger while driving 55 down the freeway. You're right, some of us never get to that point. Some of us don't want to. But if one day you have no choice and have to do several things all at once, it's comforting to know that you could if you had to, right? I was just kidding about the part of talking on the cell phone while driving. None of us really do that, right?

Once you've mastered blindfold assisted sailing, guess what's next? No I'm not kidding. We begin sailing blind fold solo. With your eyes closed, you steer the boat, tack, gibe and trim your own sails. Obviously, at this point you're feeling pretty good about your knowledge and abilities. Then you're ready to challenge certification if that's your goal. Either way, a trip to our coastal facility, is the next step.

A key differentiator between our very unique program and that of other commercial schools, is that every sailing outing has a new mix of personalities and skill sets aboard. Other programs always train students that are pretty well all at the same level of knowledge, understanding and abilities. They never get to see a truly senior student go through the advanced drills. The senior students seldom experience the challenge of directing the activities of those who might be just starting out. This is a real world mixture! You've got to be able to anticipate what an absolute beginner might get into. You've got to be able to direct crew with different skill levels and fears. You must nip mistakes before they happen by anticipating them.

Typical schools don't provide the opportunity to sail with the variety of skills you'll find in the crew on our training boats. Our training approach and class mixture is a vital element to realistic training! You see it all in our classes. 

Yes we're pretty serious about sailing training. If you want to learn it right from A to Z, give us a whirl. I have to warn you. This is not a weekend program or a quick fix! Windsong programs take time. They're affordable and provide you plenty of time to learn all you want to know. 

Sailing at Windsong is a recreation. Our programs are designed to permit you to do it for fun and for life, and with us, for "Pocket Change". Our programs are fun and affordable and our boats are always available to those who plan ahead. Last minute outings are hard to come by so our students have learned they have to book well in advance. These programs are extremely popular due to their quality and cost, but you can sail every weekend all year if you just plan ahead. Many think of our programs as their weekly golf or tennis escape. They do it for fun and the love of the sport. They learn something new every week, but they keep coming back because it's affordable, convenient and a lot of fun. 

Q-What exactly is the certification? Tell me what that's about.

A-We represent the American Sailing Association. Typically the exam consists of a written exam followed by a sailing skills exam conducted on the water. Not everyone is interested in certification and some are only interested in challenging the certification standard, so depending on the program that you choose, we may charge a nominal fee for the written exam and do the on-the-water exam during the course of regularly scheduled sailing outings. This keeps the cost of our classroom programs to a minimum by not including materials that everyone won't need.

We use the certification requirements as our instructional guidelines on the water, so successful mastery of the drills and exercises and the demonstration of those specific skills meet the requirements for certification. We do the Basic Keelboat Certification and Coastal Navigation exams in Atlanta and the Basic Coastal Cruising, Bareboat Chartering and Advanced Coastal Cruising Certification sailing skills portion at one of our coastal facilities. All written exams are administered in Atlanta prior to the trip for the coast skills demonstration. All of our programs offering ASA sailing instructions, cruises, clinics and fun sails are designed to prepare all our students fo the highest level of competency.

Q-Your programs are conducted under contract with the Parks and Recreation Service. What can you tell us about this alliance? 

A-Absolutely! The Parks and Recreation are tough business partners. They demand a lot of our staff and monitor the quality and customer focus of our programs. Windsong's business objectives are based upon Quality, Customer Service and Price, in that order! The sponsorship of our programs by the Parks is a natural partnership. We provide the focus on quality and customer service, they enable us to offer our programs at attractive prices.

The Parks are able to offer a unique adult program to their communities and we are both proud of our long term relationship which began back in 1987 over three decades ago. You go to the Parks for tennis, golf and swimming. Well guess what? Now you can go there to learn to sail as well and the whole family can afford to participate together. You've come to expect quality programs from the Parks. Windsong is a natural addition to that guarantee!

Q-It's very obvious that your program is quite different and unlike other schools. Is there anything, in closing, that you'd like to say about your program that might not be immediately obvious? 

A-I know that I tend to get quite lengthy and apologize after the fact for that, but Windsong is a personal experience for me. My personal mission is to make dreams possible for others. I feel strongly about our charter. I have strong convictions about life and business ethics. To me they are inseparable. 

In 1987, I was voted "Skipper of the Year" for racing accomplishments. That same year, I incorporated Windsong. Over the years I've earned a reputation on the lake and in the Southeast as being honest and fair. In today's business climate, those are coveted accomplishments! 

Windsong represents a good value, offers quality programs and focuses on customer service. We embrace some old fashion values here at the school. We make our living the old fashion way; we earn it one customer at a time. Likewise our students gain certification the same way; they earn it too. We're not a paper house here! When you become certified at Windsong, it's an accomplishment not to be taken lightly! Our students are like family. We strive to provide the best atmosphere for development and success. 

We're not here to mislead anyone. We don't reward students for attendance.  We only reward achievements.  Those who work hard, apply themselves and take pride in what they pursue will enjoy and appreciate our programs and business philosophy.

For sailing training, the public has many choices and no one understands that better than I do. Let me talk about our competitors for a moment. We've been an A.S.A. training facility on Lake Lanier longer than any other school and are still under the original founding management team. As founder, that must mean that we're doing a lot of things right. 

Others may have been in business before us, but we earned the A.S.A. distinction and approvals years ahead of everyone else. We set the standards and earned the reputation for excellence in customer service, staff development, fleet condition and training innovation. 

We were the first to offer a flexible and progressive approach to training. Our programs are designed to enable our customers to pursue their unique needs for training while participating in opportunities to prevent atrophy and maintain the skills already acquired.  It was time for a change in the industry and even today that format has remained unchanged and a key differentiator for Windsong. 

At Windsong we have a clear vision of who we are and what we're not. We're in the business of making Sailing Dreams come true.  Those who want to learn to sail as a recreation and involve family, friends, or meet new friends, will appreciate our business model. We realize everyday that students do have a choice and appreciate the opportunity to earn their business and exceed their expectations every time we meet. 

Those that are not sure about sailing and unsure about whether Windsong can help them reach their dream, should give us a try. If they later decide that sailing is not for them or that Windsong is not their school, they've limited their investment. A test sail or ground school is cheap. It may very well be the best investment of their sailing career. 

If you have a dream and we can help make it come true, we've both realized our dreams. Mine is to give something back to the sport that's been so very good to me.