Rough seas and manual work do not deter women who love to sail.
Avia Ustanny, Freelance Writer
AS it gets warm enough for them to take out the T-shirts and cut-offs, they shed their business suits and take to the sea in droves.
These are women who have discovered their sea legs and a love of the endless horizons. It is only one short step to the adventurous woman, from pier to gang rail. Her parlour, in good weather, is not in a well-appointed bachelor pad, but on a sleek yacht. In her boat is a bedroom with a view - 360 degrees of it.
The boat, next to the car, is the latest symbol of her independence. Even advertisers are catching on, placing females at the helm and not just tanning on the sun deck.
For many women the boat is their way to freedom, spelling more than a stress-free vacation spent with oiled, bikinied bodies near the prow, while a well-muscled mate runs to and fro to keep them afloat. You can go as many knots as your trusty craft will allow and the weather will permit. The warm waters of the Caribbean and the Florida strait are a second home to these women, some of whom, along with their spouses, have invested hard-earned cash in comfortable boats that will take them on warm water adventures.
Questions of safety still plague the group, however, (who can forget the bad days of women-capturing pirates) and few will venture afar alone. They also have had to get cheek to cheek with the technology required to run the sea-going beauties. The nuts and bolts of maintenance remain a challenge. However, this is a small price to pay for the pleasure each craft brings.
Evelyn McCallahan of Montego Bay puts it well: "You do it once, you get bitten by the bug and could be sailing forever."
Thanks to the members of Women Aboard online who responded to our survey and shared their dreams and adventures. Come along and sail with them.
Affair of the heart
COMMODORE Felix Hunter, based in Montego Bay, readily confesses to a love of the sea.
"When did my affair start? It started before I could walk. I was born in Guyana where they (parents) kept putting me in swimming pools and water. Guyana is not a big sailing place and never was, but with this love of water I went to England to study physical education, and did sailing courses. I learnt to sail in the worst weather. I never loved the weather, but I certainly loved the sea. I moved to Jamaica at age 24 in 1973 and started warm water sailing," she said.
Felix raced seriously, then switched to sailing for pleasure when she became "tired of being yelled at, the frantic urge to win, the tension and stress. I started going for Sunday sails... just to enjoy the waves and the ocean. I have kept it like that ever since. When I do sail it is for absolute pleasure and nothing else."
She remembers with delight the two-and-a-half years spent in Mexico where she lived on a boat with her boyfriend. During that time, they took corporate America sailing for one-week periods.
When she came back to Jamaica in the early 1990s, Felix turned seriously to the organisation of racing and sailing. She is now co-ordinator/manager of the Pineapple Cup Race from Montego Bay to Florida.
Evelyn McCallahan ventures farther offshore nowadays.
"I sail or race every Sunday. I am a member of the J22 team, representing Jamaica in America with my team mates. We just won the regatta. Sailing is in my blood. I have always loved the sea. I was born in Ireland where my grandfather was a sailor.
"I got hooked on sailing here in Jamaica. I love not having any noise, just the wind and the sail, you and the elements. There is so much space," she said.
Maria Russell, convenor of the International Internet Club, Women Aboard, is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, where she married Dave Russell and became wedded to the sea. They bought their first live-aboard boat, a 27-ft Bristol sloop in 1979. Cruising the Florida Keys and the Bahamas was the ultimate boating baptism for this mid-westerner.
A 42-ft trawler, Discovery, was home between 1990 and 1998. Although job transfers took them to San Diego, California; Port Arkansas, Texas and Washington D.C., "home" remained constant. Home schooling their two children enabled Maria and Dave to maintain their lifestyle while ensuring the continuation of their children's education.
That experience enhanced life on the water.
