Single, Female, and living aboard?

[petrina3]

I asked the same questions to a friend who works onboard.
There should be a lot of single ladies.

[gamayun]

Welcome to CF, Petrina! Care to tell us more, such as whether you're on a boat and your sailing area? If you posted an introduction, then I missed it. Nice to have your input here.

[wolfgal]

Originally Posted by Fizzwizz

Before I get berated as a dirty old man, I am genuinely curious.

Reading through some posts here old and new, it appears most are from fellow men. It would seem living aboard and cruising is either a dream shared by couples, or a single chap's fantasy.

I wonder then, are there many out there that are single and female?

... Fizz

I am one of those who is doing all she can to live aboard and cruise. I almost made it happen (too easily) in my twenties, but i made some choices (some good, some less good) that allowed the years to pass. Now that ive gotten back inside my own dream, it is all about squeezing in moments when i can learn about boats and sailing. Every night in my sleep, i am on my boat. Progress feels slow however. Right now I am studying for a marine electrics exam and am really having a hard time of it, not having my boat to work on. All the other guys in the class are more or less salty but have the clear advantage of taking the mulimeter to their boats and going through the trouble shooting techniques that i'm reading here in the book. No, i didnt ask to join them. I did not because of how things went while crewing these last two years, which is really too bad as these experienes have led me to to become very weary, so much i no longer respond to the crewing opportunities on CF, which is also too bad as i'm so longing to sail. i joined a racing association and found myself on a boat with ten crew (nothing to do) and do not enjoy the two person dignies in the harbor so much... but im not giving up. There is a diesel engine class supposedly this Spring and hopefully a weather class. Fingers crossed that i can squeeze them in!

[SV MAKAI]

Wolfgal..you could see if a sailing meet up group is in the area.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[wolfgal]

Yes, the sailing meet-up here was nice BUT the boat was overcrowed (we were ten people on a 30'), and the boat tacked once in two hours (straight out into the harbour and straight back in), and the others were there to socialize, eat and mostly drink. I sat up at the bow to listen to the water as at swishes so nicely there, so much better than trying to act interested in halloween party food recipes... There were a few dolphins and some sweet constellations as night fell, yes. ... i had hoped it would be a bit more about sailing obviously. (I much prefer monohulls because they heel!) And since the meet-up is a pay-on-line thing, i prefer to save up and splurge on a good sail trim class.

[Hudson Force]

Wolfgal, Have you looked into the Charleston "Women on the Water" (WOW) group? You may have far more experience than the entry level participants, but you might find a role with the organization.

[wolfgal]

Yes, i joined WOW too and genuinely offered to help repair boats (fiberglass work) but they never contacted me. I did sail with them as well in their two-person dignies.

I volunteered to climb a mast at patriots point not long ago to do some repair to the shrouds, which was great fun given it was a calm day. 😀

[boatman61]

Wolfgirl.. play with the multi meter on your car.. its 12 volts.. grab the Handbook and study the schematics..
There's sure to be some system tests.. take a look.. the electrics are similar in all the important things.

[Hoosiersailor]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Wolfgirl.. play with the multi meter on your car.. its 12 volts.. grab the Handbook and study the schematics..
There's sure to be some system tests.. take a look.. the electrics are similar in all the important things.

Yep, that's a good idea. Boats, cars, airplanes, tractors, etc. DC electrical systems (volts, amps, resistance) and the associated troubleshooting are pretty much the same.

[wolfgal]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Wolfgirl.. play with the multi meter on your car.. its 12 volts.. grab the Handbook and study the schematics..
There's sure to be some system tests.. take a look.. the electrics are similar in all the important things.

Hey good man! (I just answered on my phone, but it didn't seem to go through; so am tackling a re-write from memory on the laptop).

The car... Yes, now that I am stateside, this pedestrian-cyclist has given into sitting-behind-the-wheel as a means of getting around (a pure bore in a car, though i must admit that i find listening to music great fun).

ok, as much as this tomboy hates to admit it (here we go), i am quite intimidated by cars, especially what's under the hood. And yes, I have considered actually lifting the hood to peek with my multimeter in hand, but it also seems as though mustering that courage to do a load test might not do the trick either because, whereas i know a bit about boats, i am so lost when it comes to cars (they do not turn me on). beyond this, questions like how the car is bonded and grounded are simply beyond me.

this course i'm taking is fantastic; i've loved it, and this because it is all about boats. consider this paragraph copied 'au hazard' in the troubleshooting chapter in my handbook (a well-written power squadron handbook for marine electrical systems):

"...Propeller shafts normally carry substantial direct current from the boat's sacrificial anodes to the engine ground and return. This circuit may be broken by intermittent electrical contact through the drive gears and the thrust bearing as the propellor turns. such intermittent current in the ground system has AC and radio frequency components that are readily conducted or radiated into receivers. Shaft noise can usually be identified by shifting the propeller between forward and neutral at a very low engine speed..."

I think that this paragraph kinda shows how, for newbies, being on a boat would be better and hands-on learning, best. Do I understand what is going on in this paragraph? kind of, yet my level is definitely too low as i have to imagine the drive gears and the thrust bearing. Having a buddy with a boat would have done the trick for this course. I really wish they had told me from the start-out.

am back to studying.

thank you for your support!

[Tetepare]

I suppose the original question is valid, not as a binary question, but one to explore difference perhaps between males vs. females living aboard. No matter what I'm shocked it has run twelve pages.

There ARE differences.

Not the ability to fix a diesel- anybody can learn that- or performance under pressure (I'd probably give the nod to women.) I've not seen women jump and scream and swear when the chute goes hourglass.

OK, a woman might have to select a revolver over an auto. And, admittedly, our head has more female stuff than male stuff. Big deal. A female may have to more cautious about inviting MOOS aboard; a male should probably know enough to hide his wallet if he's going to think with his little head.

But a single female living and/or cruising aboard- how could that even be a question? If something should happen to me, I fully expect my better half to carry on, alone or with a new partner (hopefully after some bit of time, please.) Certainly she is as competent as am I in many aspects, and she can learn the rest on YouTube.

I've seen the Pacific (hey, I just got an email from Raro...hold on...yes Aitutaki communications are just fine right now) and while not "fed up", I have no interest in cruising it. My better half, on the other hand, drifts off to dream world when I share my experiences- so certainly she would be more game to cruise it than I. Will is more than half the battle.

Her second year of sailing I told her to dock the boat. She reached for the starter and I told her- "without the motor." She did it- and did it perfectly. Most men I know won't even try; in fact one tried last year when his motor died and his hull paid the price.

I think- shockingly perhaps even to me- that a single female living aboard and/or cruising may well be better suited to it than a male. Of course, I'm generalizing, so give me a break.

I'd like to see more single women on boats- they do fewer dumbass things and can be wonderful to be around. Don't get me wrong, I love my male sailing buddies; but while we may not look alike we are all the same, and we do bore ourselves at times. Bring out more females- they can handle it!

[SV MAKAI]

Meetup ' s in my area are free..you can donate to cover costs but you are not pressured to do it. 10 people on a 30 ft boat is silly...find another boat.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Tetepare]

Originally Posted by gamayun

I am in a new marina living on my boat full time now. The two boats closest to me both have single women aboard and there are others here. Not sure what's wrong with the rest of the world, but in SF Bay, it seems women on boats are no big deal indeed....

Hey Gamayun, thanks for sharing that! Great story, great video! Sadly, we don't have anything like this in our area, so I was just talking with my better half and suggested she start something like this.

Her concern "I know how much you love that boat" as if something could happen. I said who cares, you shred a sail, hit the dock, nobody hurt. Even if the boat goes aground, it's insured! It's got me thinking that my lady might do something like that.

My only regret would be watching my boat go off dock with me on the hard. :-( Probably with bright work to refinish. :-(

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by gamayun

I am in a new marina living on my boat full time now. The two boats closest to me both have single women aboard and there are others here. Not sure what's wrong with the rest of the world, but in SF Bay, it seems women on boats are no big deal indeed....

By any chance...is that your Freedom?

[gamayun]

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Hey Gamayun, thanks for sharing that! Great story, great video! Sadly, we don't have anything like this in our area, so I was just talking with my better half and suggested she start something like this.

Her concern "I know how much you love that boat" as if something could happen. I said who cares, you shred a sail, hit the dock, nobody hurt. Even if the boat goes aground, it's insured! It's got me thinking that my lady might do something like that.

My only regret would be watching my boat go off dock with me on the hard. :-( Probably with bright work to refinish. :-(

I hope she does it, even if it's just taking a few women out for a sail who've never been. It's amazing how many women I've met who are scared of being on a boat because of their partners past (bad) actions. Then they go out with me (even blowing 30 knots) and they're amazed at how we can manage things calmly. Not that I haven't had my "oh sh!t" moments, but I singlehand a lot and am (now) more careful to not get over-canvassed. Also, I have not repainted the hull and so I'm not too concerned about scrapes. In part of that video, we were practicing docking skills because we had time, tho I suck at docking so I'm probably not the best instructor for this. But that, too, was huge for some of then because they hadn't been given the chance to do it before. The best way to learn is by doing!

And then you can take comfort in knowing that when they get back from their sail, you will join all these happy, beaming women for cocktails and sailing stories. Nothing beats that, right?