Women on Water

Earlier this week, I braved the NYC traffic and headed to Liberty Landing Marina to participate in a beginner boating class for women. Women on Water is a program created by MarineMax. The aim of these free, four-hour-long seminars is to teach women (who all too often leave the boat handling to men) how to run a boat.

My class was small, due in large part to the rather nasty weather. It was an oppressively hot morning and the afternoon forecast was for rain. The good news was that the limited numbers meant more personal attention for us all. We started indoors with a classroom discussion. Our very able instructor, Capt. Merrill Miller (see photo, with a member of my class), a US Coast Guard licensed 100 ton Master, covered some basics. And because we were a particularly inexperienced crew, I mean basics. We took turns tying lines with everyone chanting, "round and round and reverse loop."

After that, we got on our boat, a Sea Ray 44 Sundancer. Each woman took turns maneuvering her around the marina and then out towards the Statue of Liberty. Capt. Miller was great—informative and lively—and I could see the benefits of being in an all-female class. There was no pressure or judgment. We were all in it together.

At the end of the day Capt. Miller’s message was clear—there’s nothing inherently difficult about running a boat. All it takes is a little practice, patience, and perhaps a trip to one of MarineMax’s Women on Water classes.