Paul Jones began a very shaky sailing career on the lakes of Ohio and Michigan in his youth. Transformation occurred when he moved to San Francisco in 1970 where he began sailing every chance he could get. From there, he went to France and became a sailing instructor for two seasons at the French sailing school, Centre Nautique des Glenans. While there, he also worked as island manager, operated a 50-foot motor vessel between the mainland and the Glenans Island archipelago transporting people and goods, and performed maintenance on island buildings and boats.
Paul has been captain on three major ocean passages (two trans-Atlantic and one across much of the Indian Ocean) in the 1970’s.
Starting in 1980, Paul began working as naturalist leading ocean-going trips to watch whales, seabirds and other marine animals to the Farallon Islands, British Columbia, Alaska and Baja, Mexico.
Back in the Bay Area, Paul received his 100-ton USCG license in 1989. Most of his sail instruction on the Bay has been with Club Nautique where he has worked since 1999 (with a break from 2008 to 2014). He has taught basic keelboat, basic cruising, coastal passage making, offshore passage-making, and coastal and celestial navigation.
