Dan Givens | Modern Sailing

Dan Givens

Instructor

Dan’s first experience sailing was on a Lido 14 with his grandfather in Oregon. On those lazy summer days, he developed a love for sailing, but never really thought about it as a full-time hobby, let alone a career.

Fast-forward to 2013, when a co-worker asked Dan to crew on a 36' X-Yacht for springtime beer-can races. Through weekly practice sessions and race events, Dan was hooked. He enrolled in classes at OCSC Sailing and worked his way through Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, Bareboat Cruising, and Coastal Passage-Making. Along the way, he honed his skills on various boats and charters on the San Francisco Bay. 

In 2015, Dan resigned from his career in corporate finance to pursue a life of sailing, volunteering, and traveling. By 2017, he had lived and volunteered in Chile and Thailand, he had completed his first ocean crossing between New Zealand to Fiji, and he landed a part-time job back at OCSC as a Sailing Instructor. 

With the closure of OCSC, Dan had a brief stint teaching at another sailing school in the area before returning to the Berkeley Marina to help start up and teach at Modern's Berkeley location. In early 2023, he added to his instructor credentials by becoming an American Sailing Association certified instructor. Dan is also a Cruising Powerboat Instructor with the US Powerboating affiliate of US Sailing.

Dan holds a USCG 50-ton Master License and has sailed over 10,000 ocean miles, including 7 ocean crossings in the South Pacific. He is also the owner of a J/24 in our Berkeley sportboat fleet named Midnight Run. 

You can read about his sailing, volunteering, and traveling adventures at www.dannyboytravels.com. You can also view his sailing and travel videos on his Youtube channel.  

Share This Page

Testimonials

  • Steve Hood, Basic Coastal Cruising

    I would definitely recommend Modern Sailing to anyone who is interested in learning to sail the right way.

  • Jessica Zittere, Member

    The Full Moon Sail with Skipper Bob Gutsgell was Ah-Mayzing!! The group dynamic was lovely and the views spectacular. I can't say enough good things about the experience. Thanks so much for the wonderful Club Sails, they are really great.

  • Rolf Zingg

    Since many, many years, I had the dream to sail underneath the Golden Gate bridge. On October 14th last year, my dream became true. Thanks to our dear friend Aaron Fritz who made it possible and organized this cruise for us. With this adventure I was able to achieve one more milestone on my sailing career.

    Finally on the water, it was great! Full moon made the flows even stronger and it was like sailing in a washing machine.

    I did my sailing education in the English Channel, where the situation with the wind and flows is comparable to the San Francisco Bay. So I felt pretty much "at home" being on the helm in the Bay.

    I hope our skipper Stan Lander enjoyed this day cruise too. We, definitely did! It was an unforgettable experience for all of us.

    A very big thank you to all of you who made it possible, that my dream became reality! Also thank you for the MSC flag I got at the end of the day. It found it's place in my study, where I can see it daily.

    Rolf Zingg

Follow us
on Social Media

Modern Sailing School & Club

Contact Us

Modern Sailing School & Club

Sausalito Location
2310 Marinship Way, Sausalito, CA 94965
(415) 331-8250
(800) 995-1668

Berkeley Location
1 Spinnaker Way, Berkeley, CA 94710
(415) 331-8250
(800) 995-1668

Map / Directions