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April 23, 2003

SAILING. IT'S NOT JUST FOR MEN ANYMORE.

I hate to burst people's bubbles of illusion, but women can sail. Women do sail. Women own boats. Women skipper them. Some live on boats by themselves, and they love it. They don't sit around pining for some guy to come along and demote them to "first mate". I mean, c'mon. Seriously! Would you???

There's a website, which I might consider useful for finding crew members. Boatcrew.net. Maybe for some people it will be useful. For me, it was just an instant source of irritation.

Why? Well, I found a delightfully sexist ad in it the other day. I post part of it here for your reading enjoyment:

Member # 3762 - Looking for Captain & Wife

We are looking for a captain and wife (or female companion) to sail and manage our sailboat (65 foot ketch). Currently our boat is in flordia and we are looking to leave up the east coast around late May. It is important to know that we will be aboard for a couple of months at a time and anyone interested in this position should be able to co-exist with owners for extended periods. The boat has been completely refitted with new interior, all new electronics, has satcom, sat TV., 3 large staterooms which one would be for crew. The compansation package for this position will be above industry standards. Please reply to me by email @ charlie@tradewinds-lp.com

Now first of all, it's "compensation", not "compansation". Secondly, I know I shouldn't let it get to me, because insults are really all in how you interpret them. However, my interpretation causes me to be offended. "Captain and wife" indeed.

Perhaps one day I'll have my own yacht. I won't be hiring someone to sail it for me though. (I can think of better ways to get a tax break.) If I do hire someone, I certainly wouldn't be advertising it as "Captain and her husband" either. Sexism works both ways.

My husband and I went kite-flying today because it was a bit too windy to go sailing in a dinghy. My husband's a great guy. He's irritating too sometimes, but so am I.