You guys remember Margaret, from our flotilla to Alaska last summer? She was crewing for Mark Bunzel, our flotilla leader from Anacortes to Ketchikan? This is Margaret, being awesome at Fury Cove after our crossing of Cape Caution:
Margaret asked me a few weeks ago if I'd co-teach a seminar with her at the 2016 Seattle Boat Show. Margaret is a very experienced mariner and sailing instructor and I'm a new (but enthusiastic) power boater (with lots of pretty photos), so the combination was natural, right? :)
This seminar is on February 1 — "Women's Day" at the 2016 Seattle Boat Show, which I have to say was initially a bit of a turnoff to me. I told Margaret that I would probably never take a seminar just for women, and maybe that sounds bad to you, but hear me out. I like to do things. I like to do things men can do. My gender doesn't feel to me like it should come into play. I have a pilot's license. I tow our Airstream. I can take a boat to SE Alaska. It bothers me when everyone assumes Kevin is the skipper of our boat just because he's a man, or that he's the one who does all our navigation, or the only one who knows how the diesel engine works, or the one who knows how our electrical systems are designed (well, okay, I'll give him that one…for now). 🙂
However, I really REALLY like inspiring people, and I especially like inspiring women not to hang out being afraid of doing things like towing their Airstream, or docking the boat, or grilling the meat or whatever. So I agreed and decided it would be fun to share some of my stories about how I dove in and learned all the stuff I needed to learn to feel comfortable handling our boat and navigating the Inside Passage to Alaska. I told Margaret I'd never taught anything, but she assured me she could handle the whole thing if need be, but that she'd love to have me and my stories and my photos to help inspire women who were new to boating or worried about how difficult things would be to learn, etc., and so I agreed.
But then Kevin broke his (right) arm, and suddenly my responsibilities for the next few weeks increased quite a bit. I'm driver and nurse and cook and also helping Kevin write the articles he needs to write, and so on. We've got a post-op appointment and a hand therapy appointment flanking the first weekend of the Boat Show now, so I told Margaret I needed to bow out. Luckily, she found another (probably better) co-teacher in Linda Lewis and I know they'll put on an interesting, informative seminar on February 1st.
So, if you're an aspiring badass woman boater (also known as "a boater"), and you want to hang out and learn and be inspired by some other badass women boaters (also known as "boaters"), I recommend this full-day seminar on February 1st at the Seattle Boat Show. It's $100 and you'll learn a ton and probably laugh a lot and meet some great people. (You'll still see my pretty photos of cruising to Alaska and around the San Juan Islands, because I'm sharing those with Margaret to use in the seminar, so I'll be there in spirit pictures.)
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All Day Seattle Boat Show University Class for Women: The Seattle Boat Show University is offering an all-day class for women sailors and power-boaters, presented by experienced instructors Linda Lewis and Margaret Pommert. A Woman’s Perspective: 101 Practical Tips for Safe and Fun Cruising is for both women who skipper and those who are ‘first mate’, and will cover topics most requested by women, including docking, avoiding seasickness, and what you need to know about marine engines and systems. This course is Monday, February 1, from 9am to 4 pm. Cost is $100. It will be a fun day of learning, laughter, and new women boater friends! |
p.s. Women's Day at the boat show is free for women with a pass that you can get here. Some seminars on Women's Day are free. Here's a link to all of the free boating and fishing seminars on Women's Day.
The Boat University seminars cost $, but they're very reasonable and there are so many good topics to choose from. Here's a complete list.
p.s.p.s. We're planning to head up to the boat show after Kevin's post-op appointment, so we'll (fingers crossed) be there for the last half. We hear the Nordic NW/Nordic Tugs booth has a nice display happening, with our Waggoner Guide Airship cover shot and all! We gotta see that!
I think that NT-39 should have your name on it. 😉
-evan
I think we’re going to hold out for the new NT44. 🙂
Ha! That should keep the 2-footitis at bay for a while… good luck.
It would, yes. It also requires piles of cash. For now, the 34 will be well loved and well taken care of. 🙂