Yikes! For some reason I feel like I am treading on thin ice here. I almost couldn’t type the title of this article. It seemed sexist. But for some reason you rarely see women docking the boat so I thought it might be interesting to explore some possible reasons why and what might be done to change the trend.

I thought I would begin by exploring some examples of female pilots I have met during my 50 years of boating and the characteristics that may have led them to breaking the paradigm.

The first to come to mind was a single business woman with a strong personality that owned an aluminum 32′ Marinette. I was young at the time so I do not remember much about the situation other than she suffered the fate of many new boat owners in that she had a lot of trouble docking the boat. I recall my Dad commenting after a particularly harrowing event that any captain would have difficulty docking the Marinette because it’s light hull and shallow draft made it very susceptible to drifting in a cross wind. But she was diligent and did not let a few setbacks deter her.

We had some looper friends a few years ago. The wife was clearly the captain and the husband was generally engaged in the role of engineer and 1st Mate. This worked well for them. As in the first example she possessed an assertive personality seeming to enjoy being in control. She planned the routes, was the radio operator, and piloted the boat most of the time. He seemed to enjoy tinkering with the mechanisms and maintaining the bright work and as far as I could tell he spent his days on the river tending to the functional and cosmetic aspects of the boat. Together they ran a taught ship.

I have known a couple women that would take on the role of captain when their husbands were not available to do so. One of them would take the family boat out for a swim during the summer months. Another would venture out in the pair’s cuddy cabin for a day trip now and again but I don’t recall her ever piloting their 50 footer. Again both of these women possessed assertive personalities.

I have two friends that have recently become single and have become the sole proprietors of their boats. One is recently widowed and the other recently separated from her significant other. Neither were regular boat pilots in the past and they are now somewhat reluctant in their new role as Captain. But they both have taken on the challenge to become proficient at piloting their boat. They are becoming more and more confident in their skills with every trip out on the water.

Boating Lessons Learned: Albeit a small sample one could conclude that assertive personalities require little or no encouragement to take on the challenge but I imagine there is more to be learned from these latter two ladies! Like why did they choose to keep the boat when one might expect them to sell it? What motivated them to want to learn to Captain the boat themselves? What fears did they have to overcome if any? What instructional methods we beneficial and why? What methods were counter-productive?

If y’all are interested I will see if one or both of them might be willing to share experience. Please leave a comment and share your thoughts on the subject.

This post is for informational purposes only. The content herein has a single theme: Mistakes …. or as I call them “Boating Lessons Learned”. While there may be elements of this site that appear to be advice about how to do some task you can be assured that it is not a complete and accurate “how to”. I am partially describing how I did something and what I learned. Do not rely on this information because Mcmanusboatworks.com makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and is not liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis.