At the recent US Sailboat Show in Annapolis, Cruising World sponsored free seminars given by well known sailors from around the world. Pam Wall and Kathy Parsons, co-creators of Women and Cruising presented “Women and Cruising: Navigating the thousands of questions as you prepare to go cruising.” A ballroom full of women -- and a few men -- listened intently as these two cruisers complied and answered thirteen questions straight from the audience. Their insight eased the minds of many women in the room and provided the men with an awareness that their women were not alone.
Together with Gwen Hamlin, Pam and Kathy recognized that women have many questions, concerns, and even fears about cruising. They developed a website that provided resources to the most common questions they were asked. Early this year they hosted their first webinar through the Seven Seas Cruising University. Women from around the world logged in to ask questions of these three ladies. The highly popular webinars have now turned into seminars at local boat shows and cruising events.
With Gwen off cruising, Pam and Kathy began their seminar in Annapolis with a brief introduction about themselves. Pam grew up sailing on Lake Michigan with her father. After college, she made her way to Florida where she met her husband Andy Wall. She has been cruising ever since. Kathy has been sailing the US, Bahamas, Central America and the Caribbean for the past 18 years. She is the author of Spanish for Cruisers and French for Cruisers both books widely used by cruisers around the world.
On this day, the questions ranged from “how to make the transition from land to sea” to “how do I not lose a sense of myself while cruising” to “do I need to be mechanically inclined to be a cruiser or can I just leave that to my husband.” Pam and Kathy each answered the questions providing their insight based on their experience and intermingled stories from other women cruisers who they have met over the years. The questions often inspired audience members to share their remedies or experience while they were preparing to transition from land to sea or what worked best for them for sea sickness.
Throughout the seminar Pam stated several times, “Don’t be a passenger. Be an active participant in the adventure. Cruising opens your life up to new possibilities that you never would have imagined.” She encouraged the women to learn as much as they could about weather, mechanics and sailing so that they could be an equal partner. Her favorite expression was, “There is no pink or blue on the boat.”
The women attending the seminar came away with many of their questions answered and probably an equal amount of questions still left unanswered. Kathy and Pam encouraged everyone to send them an e-mail with any questions they have. They made it clear that there were no dumb questions and they will answer questions as quickly as they can.
The men in the room discovered that the women in their lives were not alone in their fear or concerns. That simple revelation will open the lines of communication up and bring them one step closer to life at sea.
For more about Women and Cruising visit their FaceBook page and website. There you can find resources, stories, and helpful tips written by women who are actually living the cruising lifestyle.
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