Small-group sailing on Lost Creek Lake
Combe Sailing runs hands-on intro-to-sailing experiences on Lost Creek Lake in southern Oregon with cool Rogue-fed water, fir slopes, and the Cascades on the horizon. Your captain holds a USCG 100-Ton Master license. Your group has the whole boat. By the time you dock, you'll have sailed it yourself.
On the Water
Every trip is hands-on. You're not a passenger watching someone else sail — you'll steer, trim, and tack with a licensed captain beside you the whole time.
DAYTIME · 2.5 HRS
The flagship. Learn points of sail, steering, sail trim, and tacking on calm, protected water — real hands-on time from your first fifteen minutes aboard. Perfect for couples, families, and anyone who's always wanted to try it. Book the boat privately for up to four, or grab per-person spots on an open sail.
Book this sailGOLDEN HOUR · 2.5 HRS
Everything from the daytime sail, timed to the best light of the day. Learn the boat in the early evening breeze, then ease the sheets and watch the alpenglow climb the fir slopes as the lake goes still. The most requested sail we run.
Book this sailONE-ON-ONE · 2 HRS
Focused instruction tailored to your goals — first-timer fundamentals, building confidence before you buy your own boat, or sharpening specific skills. Just you, the captain, and the wind.
Book this sailComing this fall: quiet early-morning sails timed to the birds. A sailboat is the quietest bird blind on the water — ospreys, eagles, herons, and fall migrants, all without a motor's noise.
Ship's Log · Sunset Intro to Sail
We meet at Lost Creek Marina inside Joseph H. Stewart State Park. Safety briefing, life jackets fitted, and a quick orientation to the boat before we slip the lines.
We motor clear of the marina, then kill the engine and raise sail. From here it's wind, water, and the sound of the hull — nothing else.
Steering, trimming, and your first tacks, with the captain talking you through each one. Most people are sailing the boat on their own within the hour — and grinning about it.
As the light turns, we slow down and let the lake do the work. The last sun climbs the fir slopes while the water glasses off. This is the part people photograph — and the part they remember without photographing.
We're back at the dock as dusk settles, about two and a half hours after we left. Most guests book their next sail before they're off the boat.
The Water
In the last week of 1964, the Rogue River rose in the worst flood the valley had ever recorded. Out of that disaster came a dam — and behind the dam, a lake. When Lost Creek Lake filled in 1977, it settled over old resort communities, homesteads, orchards, and a stretch of river road that once carried travelers up to Crater Lake.
Today the lake is 3,400 acres of clean, quiet Rogue River water framed by fir slopes in the Cascade foothills, forty minutes from Medford. It holds trout, bass, and kokanee; it hosts ospreys and eagles; and on a summer evening, it holds some of the calmest sailing water in the state.
Every Combe Sailing trip carries that story with it. Between tacks, your captain can point out where the old bridge crossed, where the river road ran, and where the deepest water lies — because the best sailing lessons come with a sense of place.
The Crew
Before the licenses, the endorsements, and the sea time, there were two kids in orange life jackets on their grandfather's boat — and one of them wouldn't let go of the wheel.
Combe Sailing is what happens when you spend a whole life on the water and finally decide to share it. Same two brothers. Bigger boat. Still grinning at the helm.
Captain
USCG 100-Ton Master, Near Coastal, with sailing and towing endorsements. Mark has run commercial jet boats on the Rogue, lived aboard on the Oregon coast, and spends the school year teaching kids — which means your first sailing lesson will be the clearest lesson you've ever had. He's sailed most of his life and built Combe Sailing to share the water he grew up on.
First Mate & Music
Mark's brother and business partner, Matthew crews the boat and brings something no other outfit on the lake has: live music on the water. On select sunset sails, the soundtrack to the alpenglow is played live from the cockpit. The brothers have boated together their whole lives — including crossing Puget Sound in a 15-foot West Wight Potter, which is exactly as bold as it sounds.
Request a Sail
Tell us what you're after and we'll reply within a day with available dates. No payment is taken here — we confirm by email first.