Girl Power

From page 11

Chris instructed how to turn hard into the V of a boat’s wake once it passed. We cruised about 5 miles, each one building my confidence. Rich took over as we turned back toward home, pods of dolphins playing and feeding around us. He had his own battles trying to stay centered in the channel, which I admit made me smile, as the day before he’d kept asking why I was having such difficulty.

Back at the fuel dock, Chris taught us how to “spring off” the dock. He held the line at the bow while I shifted into port engine forward, kicking out the stern and rotating the bow pulpit over the dock. Once the boat reached a 25-degree angle to the dock, I shifted into reverse, backed into the fairway, then pivoted to head toward our slip while running the previous days’ lessons through my head.

It was show time. I put the boat into neutral early and glided until I reached the slip. I set up the turn by spinning the wheel all the way before putting the boat in gear. The stern got a little close to the piling, so I added a little starboard engine forward while still allowing it to swing. Once we cleared the piling, I shifted into reverse, used a smidge of thruster to make a small correction, then backed right in. YES! I’d watched others do this maneuver countless times, so impressed, and now I was doing it myself!

After tying up and shutting everything down, Chris handed out the written test of 50 questions, including diagrams. Thankfully it was open book, and I felt prepared. In the end, Rich and I both passed and received our certificates. But even better, I came away feeling a deep sense of accomplishment. There are few things more empowering than successfully docking a boat that size on the first try and without leaving any gelcoat on the pilings. And we had so much fun! For the first time in my life, I could see myself skippering a charter boat on a beautiful vacation somewhere. Now I knew I could do it!

This article was reprinted with permission from BoatU.S. Magazine , flagship publication of the membership organization Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatU.S.). For more expert articles and videos to make your boating, sailing, or fishing better, visit BoatUS.com.

Take a women-only boat handling class near you

According to industry statistics, an increasing number of women are buying boats these days – almost one-third higher than the percentage of women in the general boat-owning population. Also, women make up nearly a third of those using peerto-peer boat rental services, like Boatsetter. Why take a boating course with students (and often instructors) who are all women? “Women tell us they thrive in an on-water learning environment when they don’t feel pressure or intimidation from husbands or partners,” says Alan Dennison, BoatU.S. Foundation On-Water Training coordinator. “It’s a really different feel than our regular courses, which offer the same curriculum. The women who take our Women Making Waves classes encourage and celebrate each other, and many times come off the boats making plans together.”

Even if you’re not planning to take a boat out by yourself, it’s important for women to learn basic boat-handling skills, especially in case your partner goes overboard or has a medical emergency. Plus, being in control helps reduce anxiety and fear, increasing your enjoyment of being on the water.

Here are just some of the companies and nonprofits that run women’s-only boat-handling courses:

• Annapolis School of Seamanship Women at the Wheel (Annapolis, Maryland) annapolisschoolofseaman ship.com [https://www.annapolis schoolofseamanship.com]

• Black Rock Sailing School (multiple locations) blackrocksailingschool.com [https://blackrocksailingschool.com]

• BoatU.S. Foundation’s Women on Water (multiple locations) BoatUS. org/On-Water [https://www.boatus. org/on-water]

• MarineMax Women On Water (multiple locations) marinemax. com [https://www.marinemax.com/ events/classes/women-on-water]

• NW Explorations Women Only Training (Bellingham, Washington) nwexplorations.com [https://www. nwexplorations.com/training_ courses/women-on-the-water]

• Sailing Convention for Women (Newport Beach, California) sailing conventionforwomen.com [https:// www.sailingconventionforwomen. com]

• Women’s Sailing Association — Orange County (California) wsaoc.org [https://wsaoc.org]

• Women’s Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay (California) wsasmb.org [https://wsasmb.org]

— S.N-W. & CLAIRE WYNGAARD

Since the 1960’s, we hold our commitment as the “Friendliest” boatyard: a yard and chandlery that welcomes Do-It-Yourselfers.