Captain Doug Acker

Captain Doug Acker – ASA Instructor 

Doug’s sailing journey began 20 years ago as a Boy Scout on Lasers and Sunfish, but he truly began to hone his skills when his family acquired a Catalina 32 which they used extensively on the Chesapeake bay while his mother was teaching sailing at the Naval Academy. After university in Colorado, he spent a year living in Bocas del Toro, Panama, where he began sailing catamarans. His teaching journey began when he was back in Colorado, of all places, where he taught sail racing on alpine lakes and ASA courses on larger reservoirs. In recent years he began teaching full time, as well as offering his services on extended sailboat deliveries. He holds his ASA instructor credentials for Basic Keelboat, Basic Coastal Cruising, Bareboat Cruising, Coastal Navigation, Cruising Catamaran, and Advanced Coastal Cruising.

Several years ago, he decided to ride his motorcycle down to Baja on what was supposed to be a two week spearfishing and surfing trip, and has been here ever since. He lives full time in La Ventana, just 40 minutes from La Paz. When he’s not teaching sailing, you can find him kitesurfing, wing foiling, spearfishing, surfing, mountain biking, or sailing his Macgregor 26s. He and his girlfriend also have a tour company where they specialize in getting clients as close as is respectful to all sorts of marine life, and he enjoys using this knowledge to help his sailing students have unforgettable encounters during their time in this amazing place!