Since 2004, Bill’s Little Informal Sailboat School (Bliss) has become an affordable small sailing school and resource center for those who want to enjoy local sailing and/or study for the Japan Small Vessel Operator’s Permit. Bliss offers American Sailing Association certified instruction in English in Osaka Wan around the Nishinomia and Kobe areas. Lessons are scheduled to meet your personal calendar and are individualized to your learning style. Since there are never more than two students, you will be engaged in improving your skills 100% of the time. And importantly, your course is not confined to preset dates, it doesn’t end at 4 on Sunday afternoon; it ends when you are confident of the assigned skills.

Captain Bill, frankly, uses all the tuition from the school to support the boat, he is not as interested in company profit as he is in making sure the student is comfortable and confident in his ailing skills. His one owner, one boat approach allows him to discard the tight time restrictions that are primary to other schools.

As Captain Bill trained sailors, they needed a Japanese boat operator’s permit. So Captain Bill built the Juku, the cram school for sitting for the boat license at the Japan Marine Recreational Association (JMRA) exam. His computer based materials cover both the 2 Kyu and the 1 Kyu exams. These are the most extensive and least expensive materials in all Japan. Tuition (25000 Y value) for 2nd class is waived for 101 students.