Best of Boston

Whoever said you can’t get something for nothing didn’t know the Courageous Sailing Center. The center teaches mini-mariners to sail for free thanks to finding form the city, adult membership dues, and private donations. Kids start with a half-day “taste” of sailing and progress through four more steps until they are skilled enough to race and teach other youngsters. They’ll have a blast tooting around the harbor all summer, but when they sail to the stacks on an all-day outing to the JFK Library, Courageous proves a real parent-pleaser too. Adults can learn to sail for $199, which includes a two-week membership (other learn-to-sail and membership packages are also available) offering use of J-22s and Rhodes 19s, barbecues, sails to Harborlights concerts, and beautiful Harbor island camping trips.