Tag: Skills

#45 – Tools in your Toolbox

A philosophy I picked up twenty years ago from a significant mentor has guided the way I’ve approached most everything since. I call it my Toolbox Theory.

At issue at the time was taking my scuba instructor’s certification. An expensive, challenging, week-long course with a major practical test at the end, it was all daunting in [...]

#36 – Language for Cruisers

Bonjour, hola, buenos dias, malo lei lei, bula, g’day…..these are ways to “hello” from the Caribbean to Australia. Tackling foreign languages can be scary. There are the pitfalls of pronunciation, the embarrassments of using a wrong word, the confusion of word order, the mysteries of gender, and the maze of myriad verb tenses. But the [...]

#28 - Single Women Sailing - Part 2

It’s not everyday you run across a woman who owns and sails her own boat.  But it’s not all that uncommon either.  People are inclined to make a big deal of it, but really why should they?  There is nothing about boating that a woman can’t take on if she’s of a mind to and [...]

#27 - Single Women Sailing - Part 1

Not every woman comes with a man attached to her hip.  For some this is a good situation and for others not so good, but for women wanting to go cruising, it could be seen as a handicap.  Certainly the majority of the cruising community is comprised of couples, but it is often surprising to [...]

#22 – The Engine Room

Recently I was asked, “What should cruising women know about their engine rooms?” It’s easy to answer, “As much as possible.” But there are plenty of ladies who would exclaim, “As little as possible!” Most of us did not grow up mucking about with motors, electricity, or plumbing projects, and so the engine room on [...]

#19 – Nautical Lingo

It’s hard to remember a time when starboard and port did not come instinctively, when I had to spin around and face forward and look at my right or left hand to know which term I wanted. These days fore and aft, bow and stern, topsides and below, hatch and companionway, galley and head, cabin [...]

#17 – The Need to Know

Suddenly alone: A true story illustrating why women on boats need to have the skills and attitude to meet [...]

#12 – The Life Skills of Black Sheep

Are cruisers model citizens or black sheep? Cruiser character ranked against criteria from the heartland of [...]

#11 – Dinghy Driving 101

Driving the dinghy is a real skill worth learning early to support confidence and avoid [...]

#7 – Doubt and the Thrill Zone

Self-doubt doesn’t rule you out! Anxieties are not a signal to stop but to proceed more slowly. We each learn at different [...]