From the Mediterranean to Sweden, England and the Caribbean, Diane and Nick Pokrajac had sailed all over with friends who owned a boat. Diane, an emergency room nurse for more than 30 years, was no stranger to stress, but when the Pokrajacs bought their own sailboat, a single mishap sent her into a panic.
A bracket broke on their 46-foot Moody last year and they could not get into reverse. While trying to navigate a lock, they smashed a metal gate. The impact dented the bow pulpit and shattered Pokrajac's confidence on the water. Her stomach knotted up every time they went out.
This March, she took a five-day sailing course through Sea Sense, an on-the-water training run by women for women. "It totally took the mystery out of everything," she says. "I had been totally traumatized. It was a total confidence builder."
Boating courses for women are doing a brisk business, and it's a welcome development. For a long time, the only alternatives for women who wanted to learn boating skills came at the hands of husbands, boyfriends relatives or marine schools run largely by men for a predominantly male clientele. While these classes worked fine for some women, others found the environment intimidating.
Today, there are a variety of boating schools that focus on women and couples – taught by women – and the training they offer goes far beyond classrooms and textbooks. Classes range from basic sailing and boat handling to liveaboard cruising, and almost all take place primarily on the water – on a company boat, the student's own boat or even while making passage in the U.S. or abroad. The emphasis is often on making women comfortable, so they can ask questions, make mistakes and truly learn.
"There's no reason for yelling because it's not that complicated," says Captain Josie Longo, owner of Adventure Cruising and Sailing School in St. Petersburg, Fla. "I teach how to dock as I did as a single hander."
HELP WANTED, NO BARKING
Classes that target women boaters, whether power or sail, are tapping into a clear industry need. The Mad Mariner Poll, which queried 400 boat owners about their boating habits, showed that only one third of the women surveyed had taken a boating course. For men, the number was closer to two thirds.
Moreover, the poll showed that those who did take boating courses clearly benefited from the experience. An overwhelming majority – 99 percent – of men and women who took a course said that they used some or all of the skills they learned.
While the poll showed that some of the long-held stereotypes about gender roles were untrue, one thing that was true was that men were far more likely to carry out some of the important technical tasks associated with running a boat, such as monitoring the electrical panels, performing engine maintenance or operating a VHF radio. (For a story on the poll's findings and full poll results, see links)
Training can help reduce those gaps and mitigate the awkward if not testy back-and-forth between men who are comfortable on board and women who are not.
Womanship, founded by Suzanne Togell in 1984, claims to be the first boating school for women. "We're the people who started it all," Togell says. "I wanted other women to know how great it was. It's such a feeling of personal accomplishment."
WOMANSHIPFeeling the power on a five-day live aboard in 2003.
The courses aim to let women progress at their own pace and learn by doing it all – learning sailing skills combined with teamwork and leadership training. "Each student is guided through every single skill and task one needs to sail a cruising sailboat of 30 to 44 feet," Togell says.
Since its opening, Womanship, which is headquartered in Annapolis, Md., has taught more than 66,000 students. Today, the organization offers some 400 classes a year in 16 different locations around the world to women of all ages – thus far, that's women between the ages of 16 and 82.
Classes are held all year and include everything from 2- to 5-day introductory sessions, to 5- and 7- day live-aboard courses, to 9- and 12- day excursions abroad, dubbed "Sail and See," which include some days of land touring.
"Not only does the group get a chance to learn together," says Togell, "they get a chance to tour together."
COUPLES ALLOWED
Longo's Adventure Cruising and Sailing School has a slightly different focus: teaching women and couples. "The prevailing philosophy," Longo says, "is to keep men and women separate."
"But," she adds, "it's men and women who are out sailing. To me there needs to be more couple's training."
She takes on one couple at a time. "Usually the husband catches on pretty quickly," Longo says. "He's already done some sailing or he's read about it. So the wife has two supportive people on board, and she can have all the time she needs to learn."
But Longo firmly believes sailing is as much about communication skills as boating. "I point out things that become problems in relationships on board," she says. "I teach techniques and also how to work together."
ADVENTURE CRUSING AND SAILING SCHOOLOne of the specialties of the Adventure Cruising and Sailing School is private lessons for couples.
Roseanne Sarthou of St. Petersburg, Fla., admits that prior to taking sailing classes, her role on sailing trips with her husband was that of the princess. "I didn't care about sailing," says Sarthou, "didn't want anything to do with sailing, was very content taking in the fresh air and that was it."
That changed when she and her husband sailed through a cold front in Bahaia Beach. "I was never so frightened for our lives," she recalls. "I remember clearly the sails flopping, and I begged my husband not to go atop and adjust the sails for fear he would fall overboard."
Sarthou decided she needed to know how to assist her husband should future circumstances warrant, and enrolled in two all-female classes with Longo – Capt. Josie, as her students call her.
"It has changed my boating experience completely," she says. "I'm more comfortable. While I don't take the boat out alone, I have docked and undocked the boat, [and I] assist in actual sailing and trimming of the sails."
LADIES, MEET YOUR ENGINE
Sea Sense, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., believes that women-only classes promote a comfortable feeling of learning with peers. "With no men aboard to politely do for you," according to Sea Sense literature, "you learn all the things you are capable of." And that may be quite a lot.
Especially when your "class" is aboard a boat just purchased that needs to get from Port St. Charles north of St. Louis on the Mississippi River to Lake Barkley in western Kentucky. Both Susan Scollay and Carolyn Bratt just retired from academia at the University of Kentucky, sold their house and bought Sojourner, a 2004, 36-foot Selene Ocean Trawler. They've taken other boating classes but Sojourner is their first vessel.
They signed up with Captains Carol Cuddyer and Patti Moore of Sea Sense for an "instructional/delivery" course and spent four days and three nights aboard a boat they didn't know, navigating the Mississippi at a foot below flood stage, with rapid currents, whirlpools that came out of nowhere, floating logs, commercial barge traffic and at least four locks.
Scollay and Bratt handled the fourth lock themselves. One of Scollay's favorite episodes was when their captains took them below deck to "meet your engine."
More than other parts of the boat, the engine tends to be a male province. The Mad Mariner Poll showed that 43 percent of men reported performing maintenance chores, compared to just 15 percent of women.
"They are both natural teachers," Scollay says of Cuddyer and Moore. "Frankly, we hadn't gotten that from other classes we'd taken. They made it possible for us to do this and provided a base we can build on."
And build they will. They plan to live aboard Sojourner for the next three years.
Sea Sense, owned and operated by professional women boaters, has been in operation since 1989. The majority of its sailing and power boating courses are designed for women only, although customized and privately-arranged classes for men, families and groups are available.
SEA SENSESea Sense classes take place in many locations, like this one in the British Virgin Islands.
Sea Sense courses are offered in some of the premier cruising areas of the world with classes in Florida, New England, the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, the San Francisco Bay, the Pacific Northwest and along the Intracoastal Waterway, as well as in the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Greece, France, Italy and Tahiti. Classes are conducted totally on board, with an emphasis on boat-handling experience over classroom time and on the "whys" as well as the "how tos" for more complete understanding.
Susan Jewell admits she was a white-knuckled sailor when Sea Sense co-founder Carol Cuddyer first introduced her to the activity many years ago. "I was not a sailor. I had no boating abilities," she explains, "and I couldn't grasp the concept."
Cuddyer persisted, patiently, and in time Jewell came to love sailing. The breakthrough came on a Caribbean trip. Jewell was at the helm, the boat was heeling, and she was terrified it would tip over. Cuddyer instructed her to let go of the wheel, and she reluctantly complied. The boat immediately flattened out. "When I took the wheel again," Jewell says, "I turned it a little and the boat started going. So I played back and forth a few times (with the wheel) and realized if I didn't want to heel, I didn't have to take the boat as far into the wind."
The light dawned. "At that moment I realized I was in control, not the wind," Jewell says. "That was a real awakening for me. After that I basically lost my fear of tipping over in a sailboat."
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
Many women say the fellowship of same-gender training is a huge bonus.
For Janice Cook of Dakota Dunes, S.D., that spirit of camaraderie continued even after the class was completed – an unexpected bonus. "We worked hard every day learning the points of sail, diesel engine, docking techniques and knots," Cook says. "And every evening we laughed at ourselves and supported each other with all we had come to learn."
Her fears faded quickly. "We had come to gain knowledge about sailing and to feel comfortable with the boat so we could enjoy it with family and friends," she says. "What we didn't expect was that we would make new lifelong friends in the process."
SEA SENSESea Sense's courses are hands on, and that means taking the helm.
She took a class through Offshore Sailing School, which has been around since 1964. It is not exclusively a woman's boating school, but it does have a variety of boating classes for woman only. It is no longer exclusively a sailing school, either. The school, based in Ft. Myers, Fla., has recently teamed with Mainship Yachts and NauticBlue to offer a power cruising school as well.
But camaraderie isn't the only reason women find the classes appealing. "The all-women format removes the usual gender roles," says Janet Perkins of Stone Mountain, Ga, another Offshore student. "I could ask "˜dumb' questions, take on the labor-intensive tasks – or not – and risk mistakes. That adds up to learning and confidence."
Like most boating schools, Offshore holds classes in multiple locations: the waters off Florida, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, the British Virgin Islands and the Bahamas.
Judge Bette Urmacher, of Freehold, N.J., wanted an activity she and her husband could do together. "He, who has sailed since camp, actually can be heard asking me questions and, on occasion, deferring to me!" Urmacher says. "It's miracle."
LIFELONG LEARNING
Boating education is, of course, not necessarily a one-time proposition. What starts as a quest for a little immediate knowledge may turn into a long-term pursuit. Take Earlene Reid, of Apollo Beach, Fla.
Reid's first experience with sailing was in late 2001 when she met her late husband, Larry, the owner of a 30-foot sailboat. Although she had never been on a sailboat before, she was hooked. And so, over the years of her marriage, Earlene and Larry sailed every weekend.
"Unfortunately," Reid says, "my husband was not the most patient instructor. When I made a mistake or got flustered and confused, he would get very frustrated with me. Many of our sailing trips ended with me in tears saying, "˜Don't yell at me!' and him responding, "˜I'm not yelling!!!'"
Two years later, she still felt insecure about her boating skills. Her assigned role was to man the helm, but, Reid says, "It was more like he was single-handing, with me serving more as an "˜auto-pilot,' following his directions to "˜turn left,' "˜turn right,' "˜go straight.' She decided to look into lessons at the Adventure Cruising and Sailing School.
Soon thereafter, Larry was diagnosed with cancer. Any idea of taking boating classes was swiftly forgotten and, in fact, the boat was sold during the ensuing two-year struggle. With her husband's passing in 2006, Reid decided to honor his memory by booking a sailing class. So she re-connected with Capt. Josie, and within a matter of weeks was taking the basic keelboat class.
"What an amazing experience," she enthuses. "I learned more about sailing in those two days than I had in the past five years."
That could have been it for Reid, but it wasn't – not by a long shot. She continued her sailing education, picking up two additional American Sailing Association (ASA) certifications. She purchased her own sailboat. She attended an ASA sailing week in Antigua, and she is now working toward her Coast Guard Captain's license. In April 2009 Reid will participate in her first offshore cruising experience, joining a flotilla of fellow sailors in a cruise from Tampa, Fla., to the Dry Tortugas.
GAINING CONFIDENCE
The Pabsts had owned their 53-foot Selene trawler for "about five minutes" when it became a training vessel for Karen Pabst and four other Selene owners her husband found through an owners' association.
Sea Sense will provide classes on the company's boats or the client's. Pabst expected to become more knowledgeable about boats but never expected to get comfortable navigating in close quarters and docking.
"The things we were most afraid of gave us the most confidence," Pabst says. "It was fabulous. Everything was much easier than I thought it was going to be."
The Pabsts, of Port Orchard, Wash., took their boat to the annual Selene rendezvous this year with Karen at the helm. Some of the other "captains," she said, were appalled. But the division of labor works for them. Karen broke a knee several years back, and running lines across decks and docks is hard on her.
"It is easier to sit," she says.
