BoatU.S. worked with the National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA) to sponsor a noteworthy day of workshops and networking hosted by the elegant Corinthian Yacht Club in Marblehead, Massachusetts, on Saturday, June 5, 2010. According to BoatU.S.'s Elaine Dickinson, event co-chairs Joan Thayer and Marcia Bennet seamlessly orchestrated the event, which was the ninth East Coast conference. (BoatU.S. was the primary sponsor for the "Take The Helm" conference.)
Ater a warm welcome during breakfast from Corinthian’s Commodore Martin G. Ray, we women were guided in various directions to attend workshops that included indoor sessions, such as charting, learning to understand the wind and knot-tying; and outdoor and/or on-the-water classes focused on several topics, from learning the basics about rigging and boat-handling, to taking the helm.
This reporter was privileged to attend a session led by the evening keynote speaker, Kathy Parsons, a 20-year cruiser and author of Spanish for Cruisers (which I had purchased only one month earlier and heartily recommend!) and French for Cruisers. Women shared their concerns about being able to afford cruising and discussed a number of other benefits and tips from Parsons’ rich experience. Parsons and several of her associates have an excellent Web site you might wish to visit and to which you are encouraged to contribute -- www.WomenAndCruising.com.
Another noteworthy session was presented by Captain Sharon Renk-Greenlaw on understanding diesel engines. Renk-Greenlaw exhibited a typical diesel engine and pointed out each system including mechanical (such as the crank shaft, pistons, cylinder mounts and the pencil zinc), lubricant, raw water, heat exchanger, exhaust, transmission and cutlass bearing; and gave advice on how to maintain a clean and smooth-running engine. She managed to make the subject material interesting, even to those of us more 'mechanically-challenged'!
I also attended “Boat Systems,” presented by Dana Williams, who is currently president of the Northeast Sailing Association. The final session for this reporter was “Night Sailing,” presented by Nancy Erley. Erley is an inspiring teacher, having circumnavigated the globe twice, each time with an all-woman crew! She is founder of Tethys Offshore Sailing for Women and serves on the Advisory Board of NWSA. I was confident in Erley’s expertise, as I had attended her session on “Pirates and the Cruising Sailor” during the Seattle Boat Show in 2008.
The yacht club’s chef outdid himself in preparing three wonderful meals, the culmination of which was a dinner of delectable chicken paprikash prefaced by a salad of field greens and served with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans. Chocolate cake and coffee had this sailor feeling quite content at the end of a 12-hour day, despite not winning anything in the raffle. (Although, with the huge number of raffle items involved, I came close a number of times.) The raffle proceeds and silent auction earnings will go to benefit AdventureSail, a mentoring program for at-risk girls between the ages of 9 and 14.
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