Mindy Oppenheim | Modern Sailing

Mindy Oppenheim

Instructor

Captain Mindy's sailing story starts with “how a nice Jewish girl from Miami Beach ended up in the middle of the Cuban (Marielito) boat lift in 1979.”  Mindy graduated college essentially homeless, except for her brother’s couch, and had this great idea to go to the Miami River, bilge out a half-sunken 32 ft. sailboat, and get towed to a very funky Watson Island Marina right across from the Port of Miami. 

Luckily the Siddhartha in Search of Nirvana had no sails, no engine, and never left the dock during all the boat lift excitement. Mindy spent the summer re-ribbing, fiber glassing, itching, and loving every minute of it. Her mom would come to the docks with her lounge chair and tell everyone passing by “this is my daughters’ yacht!” After the boat lift, Watson Island became a very dangerous place. Mindy gave Siddhartha away to a refugee family and moved back to her college town, Tallahassee.

Mindy's first job was as a vocational counselor at a Goodwill where someone donated a Sunfish. She sailed the Little Mama all over the Keys, Florida Panhandle and eventually in various lakes in and around Richmond Virginia. When she moved to San Francisco in the 90’s Mindy inherited a friend’s Ranger 23’ and began to earn certifications at OCSC (now Modern Sailing Berkeley).  After several years of sailing the LisaLisaLisa, her partner came home one day and said, “I’m going to law school,” to which Mindy replied, “I’m getting a bigger boat.”

In 2004, Mindy fell in love with Tanagra, a 37’ Furia (built in Barcelona). She kept her in Miami for a couple of years before bringing her home to the SF Bay, conveniently before Hurricane Wilma.

In 2007, Mindy earned her USCG Captain’s License at Modern Sailing and and worked as a Basic Keelboat instructor and charter boat captain for a couple of years. Since 2022, she is back at Modern Sailing sharing her love of the water, boats, sailing, and our beautiful San Francisco Bay.

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  • Emma & George Stubbs, Sausalito

    We just took our ASA 106 at a school in Rhode Island as we prepare for 6 months of cruising in the Caribbean. The class was great, but more than anything it made us really appreciate the quality of teaching and rigor at Modern Sailing. Even though we were the newest to sailing, the group seemed to think that we had the best fundamentals. We felt very well prepared and we see why Modern Sailing has the reputation it does.

  • Warren Leiden, Member

    I try to get out on the water every week: out the Gate, around Angel, up Raccoon - I love it all. After 18 years as a member of OCSC in Berkeley, I learned to sail the bigger boats at Modern by taking ASA 103 and 104. My ASA 104 instructor Dave Russell was terrific. Also, Captain Bill Moreland has been very generous in giving informal advice whenever I’ve asked him. Thanks to Bill, I no longer have any anxiety about docking!

  • 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.

  • Ray Arceneaux

    The vessel was clean and in fine condition - very nice boat for training, well-equipped.

  • Mike, Santa Rosa, California

    All of the courses and my instructors (JT and Stan) were extremely professional and full of knowledge and experience. I found I was able to learn from their experiences beyond the scope of the courses, and look forward to future opportunities to do so. I would highly recommend Modern Sailing to anyone.

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Modern Sailing School & Club

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

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