We had a great time at the Women and Cruising Seminar Sunday October 11, 2009 at the Annapolis Boat Show. For the first time ever, Beth Leonard, circumnavigator and author of the Voyager’s Handbook joined us. And Pam Wall and I LOVED having her – she was a great member of the Women and Cruising team and we hope she can join us again.
We had quite a few other Women and Cruising contributors in the audience sharing their experiences: Ellen Sanpere weighed in about cruising with cats, Donna Lange talked about cruising with a dog, Barbara Craft commented on children and seasickness, Kim Hess showed her Yoga Onboard book, etc etc …
Ever SINCE the seminar I have been sick with the flu, so here is just a short little post. In case you are curious, here are the topics that attendees raised at the seminar:
- I’m concerned about 60 foot seas – how do you cope with bad weather?
- How do you budget for cruising?
- How do you handle your finances and mail? How do you pay your bills if you don’t have someone back home to do it for you? What address do you use? How do you do your taxes?
- Do you carry health insurance?
- How do you tell your family you are going cruising?
- How do you keep up your cardiovascular aboard the boat?
- How do you gain leverage on the boat if you aren’t very strong?
- What do you do if you get seasick?
- Children aboard – How do I be a teacher, mom, crew and still have fun? How do you secure children aboard? What do you do for children’s seasickness?
- Dogs and Cats aboard – how well does it work out to take your pets cruising?
- Provisioning
- Clothing – what should you bring? How do you handle laundry? Should you have a washing machine?
We ran out of time on the last topic so we didn’t spend much time talking about clothing or laundry. But Gwen Hamlin has great Admiral’s Angle columns on both these topics, so for thoughts on clothing and laundry, check out #10 – What We Wear and #6 – Laundry Day.
If you attended the seminar, we would love to hear from you. You can either email me directly at kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment here on the blog.
Here are some things we’d like you to write about:
What other questions/concerns/fears do you have about going cruising?
Do you have any tips or suggestions for other cruising women? We got some great ideas from attendees at Sunday’s seminar on seasickness, and getting ultrasounds, plus some favorite gear – write up these ideas and share them with other Women and Cruising readers.
Do you have a passion/hobby/profession that you plan to take cruising? Share with us your questions or your thoughts about how this might enrich your cruising and visa versa….
Share with us how you are learning your cruising skills.
In the meantime, I am working hard to get well again but will get the entries up-to-date on the blog soon.
Pam, Beth and I SO much enjoyed meeting you at the seminar and the boat show.
Fair Winds!
