 Admiral’s
Angle #1 – Introducing the
Admiral's ClubMy name is
Gwen. But onboard our boat Tackless II I’m known as “The Admiral.”
Although not bestowed on me by the US Coast Guard, the Navy, or any
other military authority, my admiralty is a rank I share proudly
with hundreds if not thousands of other women in the cruising fleet.
Being an Admiral is not merely a pseudonym for wife, cruising
companion, or female-along-for-the-ride, although it is sometimes
used that way. Nor is it merely a token title bestowed on “his
better half” by the often self-appointed Captain, although it is
sometimes used THAT way. No, to me, an Admiral is a woman who has
gotten into IT.
What is IT? I asked a bunch of women cruisers, a circle of women I
think of as my Admirals’ Club, what they thought “IT” was. Although
each described it a little differently, it all added up to a
lifestyle definition and a state of mind to go with it: one where
your boat is home, your community is the world, time and initiative
are your own, nature -- its beauty and its force -- is fundamental,
and responsibilities can be placed nowhere but in your own lap.
Some Admirals have extensive sailing backgrounds. Others may have
started out feeling like they were yanked from their lives ashore by
a press gang. The question is, how do you get from being an
uncertain -- if not actually unwilling -- crew to Admiral status?
Like everything in life, the more you know about the lifestyle, the
more secure you will feel. The more secure you feel, the more
proactive you will be on board, and that’s the key to being an
Admiral. It will not happen overnight, and there are stages to
master.
Therefore, unlike most of the stuff you read in magazines, the goal
of this column will be less to whet your appetite for far off places
than to address the questions and anxieties that can complicate the
getting-there both for women already on their way and the
“wannabees” back on the dock. Some of the questions will have to do
with practical considerations and others with emotional ones. The
goal is to share advice and examples, to reveal that there is no one
way to do things, and to show you that, far from being alone out
there, you are in fact becoming members of a community like none
other.
So who, you might ask, am I to be writing this column? The most
important thing you need to know about me is that I didn’t grow up
sailing: No salty figures in my childhood, no youth racing programs.
I did take a sailing class one summer with my sister in Mallett’s
Bay, Vermont, but I didn’t catch the bug. That didn’t happen until
my 30s when I went along on a bareboat trip to the Virgin Islands.
Talk about a change-your-life experience! Instantly, it seemed, I
fell in love with the islands, life of the water, and, after my
first reef dive, scuba-diving. Five years later, I left behind a
“normal” life in New York City and, armed with a scuba instructor’s
ticket, found myself a job on a live-aboard dive boat.
That was the real beginning. I lucked into a terrific mentor and an
opportunity to learn very quickly a lot of stuff I’d never given a
thought: general seamanship, navigation, mechanics! Some two years
later I went on my way with a captain’s license, and that “way” led
to a CSY 44 cutter named Whisper. Whisper was the boat broker’s
perfect answer to my request for “a boat I could charter (but afford
not to charter), that could teach me to be a good sailor but could
someday take me around the world.” She was everything I’d asked for,
and together she and I and various crew ran some 250 dive/sail
charters over the next eight years.
It sounds so smooth and calculated, squeezed into black and white,
but in fact there were momentous turning points, giant leaps of
nerve all along the way. What cheek it seemed to go for my scuba
instructor’s certification in the first place, to go from neophyte
to teacher! How bold to call myself Captain and let people pay me to
take them on vacation! And the stuff I learned to do! From fixing
heads to engine work to preparing three gourmet meals a day!
Finally, seven years ago, I closed that successful business, sold my
boat and joined forces with a fellow charter captain -- a handsome
guy with a sister-ship to Whisper -- to sail away from the Virgins,
my home for twelve years, on an open-ended cruise to the world…Wow,
lots of gambles in one package!
Mine is not the typical resume of a cruising Admiral. But then
again, I don’t think there is a typical resume. Every Admiral I know
has a different story. In the next months, as I address subjects
that concern women cruisers, I will include input from other
Admirals whose views will sometimes be the same and sometimes
different. In this way, you’ll be sure to collect lots of helpful
information to smooth your way ….and at the same time, (and maybe
even better yet) you’ll get to know a lot of the neat cruising women
out there who make up our Admirals Club! |
