Modern Geographic Sailing 74-425 Kealakehe Parkway, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740

"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."

"I had another excellent sailing experience with Paul recently! We went out for a 4.5 hour sail, focused on my development areas. With higher winds, we did a combination of coastal and offshore sailing. Paul was exceptionally well prepared with great attention to detail in our sail plan and execution. He provided effective coaching, covering boat control under changing conditions, and options to optimize sail performance, including racing tips using controls such as boom vang amongst others. I’ve been fortunate to sail with a number of experts over the years, and Paul definitely stands out as one of the top experts. His end to end knowledge spanning sailing, boat management, weather conditions is extensive. He provides thoughtful insights that are practical and are helping me improve my own end to end skipper skills. Thanks Paul!"

"Unforgettable experience! My girlfriend and I spent a week with Paul off the big island. We covered everything it means to live on and operate a vessel at sea. The knowledge we now have has given us confidence at the helm to sail in all types of conditions. Paul has a unique way of taking a complicated concept and making it a breeze to understand at any level. For anyone who is seeking to sharpen their skills, learn how to sail, or become a proficient sailor, Paul is your guy. Mod Geo is top notch."

"First of all, I want to send my warmest Aloha to Paul Exner, owner of Modern Geographic Sailing, and to the sailing vessel SOLSTICE for being our learning platform. Next I would like everyone reading this to realize that if you are looking for the awareness, cognition, and application to begin your next level of Bluewater Sail Training, you have come to the number one place. By joining the MOD GEO team you will gain a great perception and excellent intuition to guide you on the long tack! Before I even found MOD GEO Sailing I was feeling overwhelmed and anxious about even getting off the dock. Now those feelings have sunk into the deep, deep blue, no longer on my mind. I knew what I needed was a mentor of high caliber, dedicated and understanding, to guide me in the apparent direction I was searching. Little did I know, at that time, that I was soon to find my “one stop shop” for everything needed to get me off the dock so I could feel the wind in my hair and the confidence in my soul which would keep me on the correct heading in life to fulfill my dreams. This expedition was supposed to teach me a long list of information and techniques ranging from; knowing what to pack for the journey to piloting and operation. All of which would in turn give me the confidence to head upwind. I learned more than was listed. This sail training was able to give me that confidence to continue my goals in becoming a master sailor and was able to give me true and custom, personal feedback for my sailing goals and my own life. I am not headed in the same direction as everyone else in this world and being on SOLSTICE helped me realize, that is OK! I was exactly where I needed to be each and every day of our time together, with an influential sailing teacher, or by definition, a true sailing guru. Generally speaking, a true guru is one who will uplift your consciousness and transform you in some way. On that note, my conscious has been uplifted and my mind, body and soul have been transformed. I have completed a major step in my goal to become a master sailor by joining the MOD GEO team. A truly life changing experience that will take me places I never imagined going before. As I look back on my logbook, there are so many topics that we covered yet I still want to go back for more. Paul’s passion for the sailing world transfers to his seamanship and his life goals. I must say that we are like minded and we realized that life puts us in a certain place and time for a reason, and you have to be open minded to allow that reason to come to light. Even if it is dealing with a negative thought or event, that thought or event is happening to you at that very moment to teach you something. You must embrace that reason to learn the lesson that is being taught to you. Or else the lessons of life will pass you by. We did some amazing sailing together. I am in love with SOLSTICE! We had heavy weather bear down on us through Saddle back(between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea) which lead to quick decision making. We also had excellent 10 out of 10 sailing days tacking and jibing up and down the beautiful Kona coastline allowing different points of sail, headers and lifts, sail trimming and good old fun!! Do yourself a favor, if you are reading this, take the next step in your sailing career and sign up for three, eight, or ten days of Bluewater sailing aboard SOLSTICE, with Captain Paul Exner, owner of Modern Geographic Sailing. Don’t wait, continue your journey to become a master sailor today. ALOHA to ALL. Fair Winds, Bradley Jackson, 26, July 2020."

"I recently completed a nearly three month voyage with Captain Paul Exner, aboard his self-built and astoundingly beautiful Cape George Cutter 31, "Solstice". This was my fourth trip 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 forereaching 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 on my own vessel. Given the opportunity, I would sail again with him in a heartbeat!"