“Paul Exner is hands down the best coach / teacher I've ever met. We had a week long expedition together sailing the beautiful waters off Kona. He teaches fundamentals, empowering us to make decisions ourselves, he changed how we think about everything from setting up the boat, organizing lines, what 'readiness' really means, sail trim, helming, navigation. His methods are really that - methods - teachable, repeatable and reliable. Navigation fundamentals meant we could navigate to random points in the ocean with confidence, using compass, pencil, paper and a fix.

Beyond his technical teaching, Paul is a genuinely kind human being, positive, encouraging at all times, but also pushing us to do more. He has advanced us more in a week than we could have achieved in years.”

Stela Solar

“I’ve been learning to sail for 5 years taking various classes and racing on J-105 sailboats. However, I learned more from my experience on Paul Exner's 10-day Expert-Level Sailing Expedition than all the other sailing courses and experiences put together!

Paul covered such a wide range of topics at such expert depth, from weather forecasting, to race tactics, reading sea state, helming techniques, boat systems, renewable energy systems on boats, you name it! In fact I particularly appreciated the details and demonstrations around boat design and boat systems which we learnt about in great details as Paul built the SV Solstice himself.

I thoroughly recommend Paul Exner and Modern Geographic Sailing to everyone who is serious about developing their sailing skills. My sailing friends already know because I regularly remind them of how powerful and accelerating the learning experience was for me, and that I intend to do it again as soon as I can!”

“Hi Paul … I followed your latest Big Island Circumnavigation Expedition with interest noting your mastery of your craft made what for most would be a “barely survived” experience — but, for you it was just another day at the office.

This made me think of my friend and occasional climbing partner Mark Twight and his career as one of the world’s premier alpinists. Mark has always had a no apologies approach to his endeavors accepting nothing less than the best from his own performance.

I value Mark and you among my friends. I think you’d enjoy reading Mark’s book “Kiss or Kill: Confessions of a Serial Climber.”

From my perspective, my climbing career only scratched the surface of Mark’s. As for sailing, even though I’m having the time of my life, not even close to yours.

Keep it real Paul — I know you will.”

“Paul was extremely professional and patient with us and gave us the confidence to set out on our around-the-world sailing adventure. He was a wealth of information on so many different levels. He also spent several weeks onboard PILAR (Island Packet 445) at sea with us, and was very pleasant and helpful 100% of the time. We have now sailed from Miami to the Gold Coast of Australia and the tools Paul gave us are a big part of our success! Thank you, Paul!”

“I highly recommend Paul Exner and Modern Geographic Sailing! My husband and I share a dream of getting our own boat and sailing the world ... a dream hatched without any sailing experience. When we met Paul Exner at the Chicago Boat show, we quickly identified him as one of the best ways to get the knowledge and experience to reach our goals—and we were right! Our expedition in the Pacific on Solstice was absolutely amazing! There is so much to learn, and Paul makes it all seem accessible and doable. His knowledge base is vast and sophisticated, yet his communication style is comfortable, easy-going, and down-to-earth. He brings such a positive vibe to the experience that is clearly borne out of his love for sailing and zest for life. We are already planning our second sail with Paul and Solstice. We can't wait to see Paul again and to once again fill our brains with more techniques and soothe our souls with beautiful experiences on the ocean. Fair winds!”

“Paul Exner is the Real Deal — with decades of hands-on sailing experience, and thousands of sea miles under the hull of his boat (SV Solstice) he built himself.

One other trainee and myself spent a very memorable week sailing in Hawaii with Paul learning near-shore and offshore techniques, weather routing, passage planning, and course plotting. We also learned sail management, sail trimming, and man overboard recovery. This was hands-on practice, sailing interisland from Big Island to Lanai, Maui, even circumnavigating Molokai — making the round-trip voyage back to Kailua-Kona, Big Island.

We also crossed the Alenuihaha Channel twice in heavy weather — at night — which was one of my favorite parts of the experience, and Paul was continuously attentive of all happenings then, and for seven days straight!

Paul's style of teaching is performed with a combination of patience, calm-and-clear communication, and he takes time to make sure we retain as much as possible by quizzing and testing us. Paul has become a close friend, I highly value my experience with him aboard Solstice, and strongly recommend that anyone interested in learning anything related to sailing to reach out to him right away!”

“The Modern Geographic Expedition was an incredible life changing trip for many reasons. First-off, Paul's knowledge and experience along with the way he engages with his clients is excellent, and he truly prepared me for the next steps I’ll take with my own boat! Paul has an amazing coaching ability to find and bring out the best in you. When you add Paul’s beautiful boat Solstice to the land & seascape of the Hawaii Islands, you have the trip of a lifetime.”

“Paul, I wanted to write you this email to let you know how much I enjoyed our Expedition. Your training and leadership out-shined my expectations.  Your first questions to me were ‘what are your goals?’ I gave you a long detailed answer, and then you knocked it out of the park. I wanted to learn as much as I could about ocean sailing, and “sailing” in general, in as short of a time as possible—I live quite a distance inland so it is hard for me to gain experience on weekends. Our expedition gave me so much real world experience: from all points of sail; sail types and combinations of sail; anchoring practice in tricky spots, and multiple anchor combinations too; heavy weather and light wind work; night passages; exhaustion; sleep deprivation; weather analysis; navigation; and more! I have more to learn, but you have given me the experience, skills and confidence to take my next step.”

“Meeting Paul Exner changed my life in a monumental way!

Before I met Paul I’d never sailed before. I told Paul my dream to build a Fijian-style sailing canoe so I could fish without reliance on fuel; but, I feared I couldn’t accomplish this until I was older and did more “practical” stuff first. But, Paul responded: “Aaaah, I think we can begin working on that right away — you should join my Go Anywhere by Sail group, I help life-style sailors go-after any sailing goal, from beginner to professional.”

So, I joined Go Anywhere by Sail on the spot and truly believe I’ve never learned so much about anything that I love and enjoy doing! Paul kept me motivated, focused, on track — and most importantly he’s helped me take action!

Paul is not only wise and experienced, but a passionate sailing instructor. His kind, gentle and patient approach creates a learning environment that makes me want to learn faster because he hits the things I really care about!

My five months learning with Paul is equivalent to a decade learning anywhere else. Paul gave my dream a direction and helped it become reality. He saved me years of wandering, thwarted many headaches, and I’ve avoided having regrets I’d have experienced on my own — I’ve avoided a wasted-life!

I’m now in Fiji sailing a Fijian-style canoe — incredible! I’m literally going anywhere by sail.

I’m grateful for Paul’s positive influence. Vei-Mua-Na: go where the bow takes you. Vinaka Vakalevu.”

“I completed a three month voyage (March-May, 2018) with Captain Paul Exner, aboard his self-built and astoundingly beautiful Cape George Cutter 31, "Solstice." This was my fourth Expedition with Paul, and I can say with earnest that I owe my growth as a sailor and a seaman to Paul's first-class coaching. With each expedition, he has taken me from barely knowing how to tie a bowline, to fore-reaching in heavy weather, to singlehanded spinnaker sailing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Through Paul's hands-on style of teaching, I have never felt more confident in my abilities to traverse the oceans aboard my own vessel (Westsail 32). Given the opportunity, I would sail again with Paul in a heartbeat!”

“When I first scheduled my trip with Modern Geographic I was expecting to be with a few other crew-members. When I found out it was only going to be Paul and I on board I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous. However, I must say my expedition could not have gone better! I came on board with almost no sailing experience and being the only crew member made this an ideal situation. Paul really shaped the curriculum around my requests and my goals. I really got a little taste of everything during my expedition, and given this was Paul’s first time sailing this area also gave me a sense of what real sailing is like. We found sailing in Hawaii was quite challenging as the weather can be very unpredictable. I was able to sail in wind speeds close to nothing all the way up to over 30 knots. Overall, I learned an incredible amount in just one week and quite honestly I wish I had one more week with Paul to keep sailing. Paul is an excellent and qualified teacher who really helps to explain each concept in a way you can understand, and he made sure to constantly quiz me to make sure I retained everything (haha). I can’t recommend Paul Exner and Modern Geographics’ expeditions enough, it was truly an amazing experience that sparked a real passion for sailing inside of me.”

“Thanks Paul, it was a great experience sailing with you — I spent the day after our expedition touring Kona and got a tattoo to remember my trip every time I look down at my wrist!

You made learning fun and I had a great time — I’ll definitely tell everyone I know about our sailing adventure and to checkout your expeditions.

Please give your wife Liz an extra thanks for all the great meals and effort she puts into these sailing trips. From a student's perspective everything about the expedition is different than what I’ve been doing on land — getting used to moving 24/7, using the head regularly — everything takes a couple of days to acclimatize, so having comfort food is a real treat — thanks Liz!

I hope to see you again soon, Paul… Cheers and happy sailing from the PNW.”

“I am a Modern Geographic alumnus, having paid for a sail training expedition, coached by Paul Exner. I had some sailing experience prior, but felt that I wanted to accelerate my learning, using a more personalized approach. I also wanted to sail in an environment that was more challenging than what I had available locally.

Having been through the ASA 101/3/4 courses, my training with Modern Geographic was much more in-depth and experiential. Instead of pre-canned curriculums, we focused on the items that I was most deficient in, building on those items daily. The key for me was getting out into blue water and learning by direct, hands-on sailing. There’s only so much you can learn from a book. Paul (safely) put me through a lot of challenging scenarios, including heavy weather.

I absolutely recommend signing up for a sail training expedition with Modern Geographic. I plan to do so again soon, to expand my skills, while exploring the beautiful islands of Hawaii (and beyond). Given Paul’s 40 years of racing and cruising history, I feel like his expeditions are great for anyone wanting to hone their skills as a sailor, regardless of what their current sailing experience is.”

“Sailing with Paul Exner on Solstice might be the best time we have ever had! (This includes our favorite dive trip to the Maldives.) Solstice is beautiful and strong sea worthy craft. Paul is an excellent sailor and teacher, he made every watch enjoyable. We absolutely loved sailing with Paul and have already booked a second trip with him. (2 expeditions in 9 months)!

If you enjoy an active vacation that gives you memories for a lifetime — look no further than an Expedition with Modern Geographic.”

“Thank you for a remarkable journey — it was a one-of-a-kind experience. You are the best sailor and instructor I ever met. I hope you don’t mind, but as I teach my sailing students, I hope to emulate your style. It was the greatest sailing with you, Paul … Let’s do it again!”

“Paul Exner is absolutely stellar — a true sailing guru! I sailed a 3-day expedition with him and another student, and Paul went above and beyond. Paul is incredibly knowledgeable, and with his decades of experience he clearly translated the craft of sailing into very simple and practical lessons. Super excited to continue working with Paul as my own sailing experience continues to grow.”