Let me explain for a moment why I am starting this blog. A few months ago, a friend asked me to give a seminar for a group of women pertaining to boat docking. About 30 or so women attended and, when I had completed my presentation, most of them came up to me and asked me to provide them with more information regarding our sport. Their plea was so sincere, and so unanimous, that I felt I had to try to reach out to those women who wanted to become better boaters.
It is interesting to me to note that there are very few sources of info on boating available to women from women. Quite a few male-dominated forums do attempt to instruct women in the art of boating but, quite honestly, we do learn differently and relate to the instructor in a different way when the gender is dissimilar. So I am going to try to provide you with the knowledge I obtained thru many years of boating, beginning with my early tasks which revolved around keeping the children quiet, to docking our live aboard and charter boats for the last years of our boating life.
Just a few more comments before we begin this journey together. I am now an “older woman” and I see clearly the difference in attitude between myself and my three daughters and seven granddaughters. So much of my life was spent in the “traditional roles” dictated by my societal environment that there may be some reflection of same in my commentary; please understand and overlook any antiquated attitudes. Also, please keep in mind that all of my comments are MY opinion. Others may have legitimate differing thoughts based upon their knowledge and experience.
So, where do we begin? What do you need to know and what do you want to know? How did I learn about the sport of boating? My involvement was minimal initially, but it became intense when the decision was made to live aboard. My husband and I took five courses with the US Power Squadron the year before we moved aboard. These classes, from the Basic Boating Course up to Advanced Piloting, prepared us theoretically for the live aboard life, and ultimately became the foundation for us to get our six-pack Captains License.
Note the word “theoretically” in the sentence above. Classroom instruction is a vital part of learning to boat safely but ultimately you have to take that knowledge onto the water, put it into practice, and learn hands on to become an accomplished boater.