Pet Peeves of boat life

The snow is slowly melting off my sailboat and I’m giving some thoughts to getting back out on the water.

There are some common things among the boating community that drive me nuts. Take your normal boating couple. Some men will never give up the helm. You see them there sitting at the helm, maybe smoking a cigar, shouting orders. The female part of the crew has to run around the boat doing things like dropping anchor and tossing lines.

The man may be 250 pounds of muscle, but his 100 pound companion has to do the heavy anchor and line work. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the big strong guy to do the heavy work? The only problem is that he’d never let her take the helm. That’s his job and no way will he give his position of authority and power.

That sort of male attitude occasional proves fatal. Picture this. The guy has a few beers and decides to relieve himself over the stern and falls overboard. (That’s actually a really common accident.) Suddenly the little lady is left all alone on the boat. She’s never had to control the boat before and has no idea what to do. Hours may go by before she flags down help or figures out how to use the radio. Her male companion is lost as sea.

Then some guys think a woman is on board to do all the domestic work. It’s different on a boat. For example, few boats have washer and dryers. You might end up having to walk a mile from your anchorage to the laundromat. You’d think the least the guy could do is to carry the bag of dirty laundry. It’s same thing with provisioning. It could be a long hike back from the store.

Then these same guys wonder why their women don’t like boating. Sometimes the first time they get back to shore they take a cab to the airport and fly home. Those same guys will tell me how lucky I am that my lovely wife is willing to go sailing with me. Oh yeah, they also make fun of me for doing most of the cooking on the boat. They don’t make the connection that perhaps that why my lovely wife sails with me. She also gets all the time on the helm that she wants.

Not only will she go sailing with me, she’ll turn the boat back around to pick me up.

-Sixbears