Image description: A diverse group of women on a sailboat.
Image description: Rachael Zoe Miller, a woman in a yellow rain coat, doing beach clean up on a cloudy day.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM A DECADE OF PROTECTING THE OCEAN
By Rachael Zoe Miller
…The fact that there is rarely one magic fix, is something that we, as sailors, end up learning quickly if it is not already embraced. More often, problems are fixed by making a number of improvements in a variety of categories. Overpowered but still need to sail upwind? Drop the traveller, shorten sails, flatten sails, change sails, move weight…we usually employ at least a few of those strategies. As far as marine debris goes, multiple solutions will be the most effective and cost efficient way to get ahead.
Image description: Boats that have been destroyed by Hurricane Dorian in Marsh Harbor, Bahamas, with destroyed buildings in the background.
CLIMATE CHANGE
MAKING AN INVITING TABLE FOR DISCUSSION
By Janet Gannon
…Sailors know an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. We put this into practice as we prepare for voyages that last an afternoon or a month. We check the rigging. We make sure there are wooden plugs near the through-hulls. We update our flares and refill the first aid kit, just in case. We warn our crew when a new sailing maneuver is about to occur, calling “ready about!” to allow preparations to occur. As sailors and women, we need to prepare for the biggest challenge our boats and crews will face – climate change. We need to invite everyone to this table if we are to continue to eat at all.
A Right Whale mother and calf feed. Whale Photo Credit: NOAA/NEFSC/Christin Khan
BOATERS ASKED TO HELP SAVE WHALES
By Daria Blackwell
…NOAA chose to focus specifically on right whales because it is thought there are no more than 400 remaining in the world. The environmental pressure on right whales is enormous. Scientist Jean Higgins, acoustics expert Dr. Danielle Cholewiak, and Allison Ferreira, Communications Lead for the Greater Atlantic Fisheries Office, generously gave me the lowdown on the recently launched program.
CLIMATE GRIEF AND ECO-ANXIETY
By: Jennifer Harkness
DEAR SKIPPER JENN, I am angry, scared, and feel hopeless about climate change. I want to sail in clean waters with healthy ecosystems and reliable weather patterns. How do I cope and keep going when I am not sure what the world, our weather, and the ecology will look like in 10-20 years?
Dear Hopeless Over Climate Change,
…you are not alone. I get it. Let’s come together in our grief and anxiety to support one another for a better future. The beauty of modern life is experiencing just how much we are a global community. More than ever, we have an opportunity to tap into our collective compassion and humanity. More than ever, we need the feelers, the dreamers, and the visionaries to come together and build great things. If you feel hopeless it is because you care deeply and have a big heart. You are not too sensitive; you are not overreacting; you are paying attention. I hope that you find ways to balance the knife's edge of caring and action versus hopelessness and overwhelm. More than ever, we need you not to give up.
You absolutely do not want to miss the US Sailing Women’s Panel for their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Program. Our CEO Ayme Sinclair brought an amazing group of women together to discuss issues of sexism on the water. Our Editor in Chief Jennifer Harkness moderated, our founder Charlotte Kaufman was a panelist along with Jeanne Goussev from Team Sail Like a Girl, Debbie Huntsman from the National Women’s Sailing Association, Marie Rogers who was the first woman and African-American to be commodore of the Los Angeles Yacht Club, and Sally Barkow, the US Sailing Olympic team coach and performance manager.
We are thrilled the the 2020 Vendee Globe will have six female skippers.
Lisa Blair’s Book Facing Fear is being made into a movie. If you don’t know about her epic story of being the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica, you need to click through. We haven’t been this excited since Maiden.
Pam Lee and Cat Hunt sailed double handed around Ireland, setting a record that is touted to stand for years.
It would be a huge miss this addition if we didn’t name that this past month brought us huge wildfires and storms globally and especially in the US. We are sending compassion and solidarity to all those impacted out there.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg died this past month and we are heart broken. Her record of being a champion of human and women’s rights is something to aspire to.
Image description: A stack of boats by the deck toe rail of a boat on the water.
READINGS ON CLIMATE ACTIVISM
By Janna Cawrse Esarey
Books buoy us. They lift us up, give us direction, teach us where to go and how to get there. Check out our new monthly Women Who Sail book recommendations.
Women Who Sail is a closed Facebook group. Read our group guidelines and if you are a fit, request to join! Content from the group is always shared with permission.
In the main Women Who Sail group, Valerie Ní Mhurchú posted, “I thought I’d start a list of the things I do as a sailor that others find disgusting, but are normal to me. I’ve come up with one so far: Taste the bilge water to see if it’s salty or fresh.
190 women responded and the results were gross, hilarious and bonding. We are wondering, what is the disgusting stuff you do aboard? Feed free to add into the comments section! Fair winds everyone!
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Have questions, upcoming events, news, or submissions? Contact our Editor-in-Chief: Jenn Harkness at skipperjennharkness@gmail.com