‘Women Who Sail’ Want You
Sailing-related online message boards have been around almost as long as the Internet. One of the great assets of these types of sites is the vast wealth of knowledge their members — almost exclusively male — have (or, in some cases, think they have). The downside of such groups, though, is that those members have heard the same questions asked so many times that they can forget their manners and get snarky with newbies. Some groups even encourage such snarkiness.
Imagine you’re new to sailing and eager to learn all you can. You find a group and start asking questions only to get ridiculed for your ‘stupidity’. Not exactly a warm and welcoming introduction to the sport. Sadly, that’s exactly what happened to Charlotte Kaufman (of the ill-fated Rebel Heart) several years ago when she started posting in online sailing groups. Appalled by the bullying behavior she encountered, she created a Facebook group dedicated to supporting sailor chicks of all skill levels: Women Who Sail.
Over the past six years, Women Who Sail has grown to include almost 6,000 female members, including such well-traveled sailors as Lin Pardey, Behan Gifford, Wendy Hinman, Pam Wall, Jeanne Socrates and many more. The atmosphere is supportive without being saccharine, and all questions relating to a woman’s life aboard a boat are welcome. And the most important rule is to be kind and respectful of others. How refreshing is that?
“There are plenty of the same questions and technical discussions having to do with preferred equipment types, repair advice, navigation, system maintenance, and so on that you might find in a male-dominated forum,” notes member Linda Edeiken, who has been cruising with her partner Chuck Houlihan for over a decade aboard their Puerto Vallarta-based Allied 39 Jacaranda. “And there are the likely topics about the galley, medicine/health and sewing which are often, but not always, a woman’s responsibility on a boat. But there are also many threads which reflect gender differences, such as communicating feelings, feminine hygiene and issues of femininity.”
All women interested in sailing, whether they’re old salts or simply dreaming of the day they own their first boat (power or sail), are welcome to join the group at www.facebook.com/groups/WomenWhoSail. Dudes need not apply.