Sign up for NWSA’s 9th annual Women’s Sailing Conference, a Take the Helm® event!

It will take place Saturday June 5, 2010 at the Corinthian Yacht Club on beautiful Marblehead Harbor in Massachusetts. (I will be there!)

It’s a [...]]]> Would you like to improve your sailing skills while meeting lots of cool women and having FUN?

Sign up for NWSA’s 9th annual Women’s Sailing Conference, a Take the Helm® event!

It will take place Saturday June 5, 2010 at the Corinthian Yacht Club on beautiful Marblehead Harbor in Massachusetts. (I will be there!)

It’s a full day of learning, sailing, sharing, networking, and good fun. You can participate in a variety of workshops for women of all sailing abilities, presented by some of the best women sailors around.

The conference is a great way to learn more about sailing, acquire new tactics and techniques, hone your nautical skills, and meet women who share your interest and enthusiasm for being on the water.

You can select on-land and on-water workshops that match your interests and abilities. (Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis.)

Take a chance on winning exciting prizes in the raffle and silent auction, with proceeds benefiting the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) AdventureSail® program for young girls at risk.

Here are this year’s workshops:

Workshops on Land

Workshops on a Boat PFDs required.

Workshops on the Water PFDs required.

* Sessions last all morning or all afternoon.

I am so HONORED to be the keynote speaker at the evening dinner this year.

Marblehead is a beautiful place and I am excited about the weekend. I took my very first sailing class in Marblehead years ago – and have quite a few memories of adventures around Marblehead from my first sailing days. See you there!

As my friend Betsy Morris,who will be giving the Long-term Cruising and Take the Helm workshops, says of the conference:

“This great big room is full of women sailors – some have been around the world, some race, some merely open the beers, but every single one wants to do more and to share it with other women.  It’s uplifting!”

Due to space limitation, registration is on a first-come, first-served basis, and you must sign up in advance. Both NWSA members and non-members are welcome.  For more information and to register:

• Visit the website of the National Women’s Sailing Association. You will find information on the conference on the home page with a link to the registration form and conference schedule.

And Amanda Swan Neal has invited you all to the seminars she will be [...]]]> We’ve already announced here on the blog that Pam and I will giving two free Women and Cruising seminars at the Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show, at Jack London Square in Oakland, California on April 16 and 17.

And Amanda Swan Neal has invited you all to the seminars she will be offering at Strictly Sail.

But that’s not all. There will be over 100 seminars during the show and Women and Cruising contributors will be giving a number of them. Here are 7 more great seminars that Pam Wall, Janna Cawrse Esarey and I will be giving during the show.

Come meet us and let’s talk cruising!

(1) Cruising the French and Spanish-speaking Caribbean

Kathy Parsons Saturday April 17 – 2:15pm Room: Compass and Sunday April 18 – 2:15pm Room: Compass

The French and Spanish-speaking countries of the Caribbean provide rich and varied cruising opportunities: from Martinique and Guadeloupe’s French Creole cuisines, to inland travel through Central and South America, to the music and beauty of Cuba. Yet boaters often hesitate, faced with language and cultural differences.

With photos, hand-outs and personal stories from over a decade of travel throughout the Caribbean, author and cruiser Kathy Parsons shows how and why to fully explore these areas.

You will leave this seminar with a list of Caribbean destinations that you won’t want to miss and practical tips that will reduce cultural misunderstandings and make your travel more safe and enjoyable.

(2) Outfitting for Blue Water Cruising

Pam Wall Saturday April 17 – 11:45pm Room: Portside

Pam Wall has years of sailing and cruising experience. In this seminar she shares many good ideas on how to make your boat safer, more efficient, and therefore more fun.

See the many photos of good ideas on how to sail your boat efficiently, be safer, and a lot more.

(3) Family Sailing Around the World

Join Pam and Andy Wall and their two small children as they sail their 39 foot sloop around the world. This wonderful sailing family adventure took six years.

Enjoy the entertaining stories, and learn from the thrilling experiences of a family seeing the world from their own home, their boat KANDARIK.

(4) Cruising the Bahamas

Pam has been cruising the Bahamas for over 30 years. Come join Pam in a cruise around the Abacos in the Bahamas.

Get all kinds of good information on what to see, where to sail, and what to do in the lovely Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas.

(5) Sail the Transatlantic on the Four-Masted Bark Sea Cloud

Come and join the Trans Atlantic Passage of the lovely and historical yacht SEA CLOUD.  This beautiful 367 foot private yacht was built for Marjorie Merryweather Post and is now a charter yacht that works the Caribbean in the winter and the Mediterranean in the summer.

Pam Wall just recently sailed from the Canary Islands to Antigua and wants to share this wonderful 16 day passage aboard the bark SEA CLOUD.  Come and see what it is like to cross the Atlantic with the trade winds and enjoy the life aboard a square rigged sailing ship.

(6) The Motion of the Ocean: Funny Stories from a Salty Marriage

Janna Cawrse Esarey   Sunday April 18 – 1:00pm   Room: Regatta II

Janna Cawrse Esarey will show photos and read from her travel memoir, The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, & a Woman’s Search for the Meaning of Wife (Simon & Schuster 2009).

It’s the humorous, true story of a couple that honeymoons across the Pacific on a beat-up, old boat—only to find that sailing 17,000 miles is easier than keeping their relationship off the rocks.

If you’re interested in blue-water cruising, boating as a couple, women aboard, or just want a good laugh, come join us!

(7) Keeping Your Onboard Relationship Off the Rocks

Janna Cawrse Esarey   Saturday April 17 – 4:45pm   Room: Regatta II

You love your spouse. You love your boat. Why can’t you three get along? Take heart, even the happiest union strains under onboard pressures; our friends call their boat the Divorce Machine.

This hands-on seminar will help you identify potential pitfalls and give you tools for boating better together. Topics include the Pink and the Blue, Boat Hygiene, Romance on Watch, Divorce Docking, and most importantly, What She’s Actually Thinking.

This seminar is intended for anyone—sailors, powerboaters, racers, cruisers, men, women—who would like to sail happily ever aboard with a loved one.

About Kathy Parsons

Kathy Parsons is author of the books, Spanish for Cruisers and French For Cruisers, popular language guides for boaters.  

Together with friends Pam Wall, Gwen Hamlin and Beth Leonard, Kathy conducts “Women and Cruising” seminars at boat shows, answering questions that women have about the cruising life.

She is the founder of this website, Women and Cruising, which provides advice, inspiration and resources for women cruisers.  

Kathy Parsons has spent much of the last twenty years living aboard and sailing the US, Bahamas, Caribbean and Central America. Along the way, she has pursued a number of passions: diving, hiking, and inland travel, and learning and teaching foreign languages.

Look for Kathy in the Author’s Corner at the Boat Show.

About Pam Wall

Pam Wall works for West Marine in Fort Lauderdale.  After many years of sailing around the world with her husband, Andy, and two small children, Pam has become a diplomat for West Marine by offering her knowledge to offshore cruisers.

She not only answers questions on anything to do with sailing, but can be of assistance in suggesting fun things to do, places to eat, foreign country checking in process, great places to anchor, and of course her specialty, what to take aboard your boat for safe, efficient, and fun sailing and cruising.

With many miles of cruising under her belt, Pam is a source of information for anyone to use.  Her lectures at boat shows take you all over the sailing globe and give everyone who attends the desire to be out there too!

Together with friends Kathy Parsons, Gwen Hamlin and Beth Leonard, Pam conducts “Women and Cruising” seminars at boat shows, answering questions that women have about the cruising life.

About Janna Cawrse Esarey

Janna Cawrse Esarey is a teacher by training, a writer by day, and a sailor by luck.

Her book, The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, & a Woman’s Search for the Meaning of Wife (Simon & Schuster 2009), is the humorous true story of a couple that honeymoons across the Pacific on a beat-up, old boat—only to find that sailing 17,000 miles is easier than keeping their relationship off the rocks.

Janna’s work appears in sailing magazines, such as Cruising World, Blue Water Sailing, and 48 North, and travel anthologies, most recently More Sand in My Bra.

She blogs about work-life-love balance for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer at “Happily Even After.” Janna was selected as a 2008 Jack Straw Writer and currently performs the juggling act of writer, mom, and wife—only dropping a few balls daily. Visit her at http://www.byjanna.com.

More info:

Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show
Jack London Square, Oakland, CA
Thurs, April 15 – Sun, Apr 18, 2010

• Visit the Strictly Sail Pacific Boat Show website.
• View the complete seminar schedule.
• Get details on our Women and Cruising seminars.
• Read about Amanda Swan Neal’s seminars.

While you’re at the 2009 Annapolis Sailboat Show, be sure to stop by the Author’s Corner (Booth M5) and talk cruising.

Another reason that I love the Annapolis Boat Show is that I get to hang out with two of my favorite cruising authors, Jimmy Cornell and John Otterbacher (author of Sailing Grace).

Jimmy Cornell is the author of the best-selling World Cruising Routes
as well as founder of Noonsite, and the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. I’ve carried Jimmy’s books aboard my boat for decades, but I’d never met him until two years ago at the Annapolis Boat Show.

Don’t miss the opportunity to met Jimmy at the show and get an autographed copy of his book A PASSION FOR THE SEA Reflections on Three Circumnavigations.

Jimmy will be at the Author’s Corner (Booth M5) Friday through Monday, plus he will be giving seminars Friday through Sunday (see schedule below).

Our Author’s Corner is right next to Seven Seas Cruising Association’s (SSCA) booth so it’s a great corner of the show for cruisers.

And check out my two books French for Cruisers and Spanish for Cruisers. This will be my first year selling the new much-expanded second edition of Spanish for Cruisers which began shipping last winter. So come by Booth M5 and get autographed copies of my books and let’s talk cruising.

Of course be sure to attend the Women and Cruising Seminar on October 11 at noon. It is free and no advance registration is required. Since we have two posts already about the seminar, I’ll just give you the links to the details: here and here.

Here is Jimmy Cornell’s speaking schedule at the show:

Jimmy Cornell will be speaking Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for Cruising World 2009 US Sailboat Show Seminars on Sailing :

Friday, October 9, 2009
9:00-10:15 a.m.
Back by Popular Demand—World Cruiser Jimmy Cornell: Join Jimmy as he plans a voyage from the Chesapeake to the Caribbean, to Europe and back … as well as a circumnavigation.

4:00-5:30 p.m.
Jimmy Cornell, Noted Offshore Cruiser: Join Jimmy as he addresses practical aspects of long-distance cruising, from the essential features of an offshore cruising boat to crew, finances, safety, and more.

Saturday, October 10, 2009
10:00-12:00 a.m.
Panel Discussion—Staying Safe in Distant Waters: Meet noted offshore sailors and authors, including Jimmy Cornell, Don Street, Beth A. Leonard, and Liza Copeland. Join them in a panel discussion of security issues confronting blue water sailors in various regions of the world, and hear their advice about how to best deal with them.

2:15-3:45 p.m.
Highlights of a Sailing Life: Jimmy Cornell shares a photo essay of his 35 years of cruising, a reflection on all that he’s learned from 200,000 miles of sailing (without any major problems).

Sunday, October 11, 2009
9:00-10:15 a.m.
Cruising in the Med: Jimmy Cornell talks about where to go and what to see, as well as formalities, docking facilities, anchoring challenges, laying up the boat, and more.

Okay, I am back to packing for the show….

More info:

• Download the complete Cruising World 2009 US Sailboat Show (Annapolis, MD) Seminars on Sailing Schedule.
• Visit the website of the US Sailboat Show, Annapolis, MD, October 8-12, 2009. This will be the 40th Anniversary of the show!
• Visit author’s websites: Jimmy Cornell, Kathy Parsons, John Otterbacher (author of Sailing Grace)
• Get all the details on our Women and Cruising Seminar on Sunday October 11.

We’ve received a number of emails asking about the Women and Cruising Seminar, so here are the details again:

Women and Cruising Seminar Sunday October 11, 2009 12:00 – 1:30pm Ballroom of the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel

Free, no advanced [...]]]> It’s less than a month away and we’re getting excited about the Annapolis Boat Show.

We’ve received a number of emails asking about the Women and Cruising Seminar, so here are the details again:

Women and Cruising Seminar
Sunday October 11, 2009
12:00 – 1:30pm
Ballroom of the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel

Free, no advanced reservation required – thanks to Cruising World!

Topics covered: About the Women and Cruising Seminar

Yes, the seminar is FREE and there is no advance registration. Just show up!

Pam Wall and I will be accompanied by several familiar faces from the Women and Cruising website at the seminar:

• Beth Leonard (circumnavigator, author of The Voyager’s Handbook and Blue Horizons)
• Plus Betsy Baillie, Ellen Sanpere, Debbie Leisure … and there will likely be even more joining us. Let us know if you’re coming!

Men are welcome too!

Actually, lots of men attend our Women and Cruising seminars – because we discuss a lot of useful topics, because they want to better understand women’s perspectives, because they want their wife or girlfriend to be happy aboard, … and some men come to meet women who like sailing.

 More info:

• Read more about the Women and Cruising Seminar.
• Download the complete Cruising World 2009 US Sailboat Show (Annapolis, MD) Seminars on Sailing Schedule.
• Visit the website of the US Sailboat Show, Annapolis, MD, October 8-12, 2009. This will be the 40th Anniversary of the show!
• Check out Beth Leonard’s 2009 Seminar Schedule.

Read Women and Cruising articles/posts of contributors who will be at the seminar:

• Kathy Parsons (Galley Advice from 18 Cruising Women, Favorite Tips: Boat Maintenance, What I Like Most About Cruising)
• Pam Wall (Galley Advice from 18 Cruising Women, What I Like Most About Cruising)
• Beth Leonard (What I Like Most About Cruising)
• Betsy Baillie (Galley Advice from 18 Cruising Women)
• Ellen Sanpere (Take Your Passion Cruising, What I Like Most About Cruising)
• Debbie Leisure (How We Learn, What I Like Most About Cruising)

We will announce Women and Cruising seminars, other seminars and courses, boat shows, and get-togethers.

We also plan to share news about the women who have [...]]]> We will be using this blog to post news of interest to:

• women who are considering going cruising
• women actively preparing to go cruising
• and women who are already out there on the water

We will announce Women and Cruising seminars, other seminars and courses, boat shows, and get-togethers.

We also plan to share news about the women who have been contributing to this site.

Let us know of news that other women would be interested in.