Articles

The Marine Trader Owners Association Women's Underway Training Course-It's all in the Family.

It may be a cliché that marriage is a give and take relationship, but one phrase you don't often hear from husbands is, "Here honey, take the helm." For whatever reason, some husbands have been reluctant to give their wives much responsibility on boats. It was with some excitement then, when Ruth Baumert, Special Programs Manager for BoatU.S. Marine Insurance, called Seaworthy one day to urge us to write about the "Women's Underway Training Course" offered by the Marine Trader Owners' Association (MTOA), which she said could be a model for other boating clubs. The safety-oriented course gets wives away from their husbands and teaches them some basic, hands-on boating skills. Ruth, a wife, mother and avid boater herself, suspect that most wives don't want to be taught boating skills by their husbands.

Hmm, she had a point. Seaworthy called Ray Wlodyka, President of MTOA, who confirmed that the training was an informal opportunity for wives who were uncomfortable operating boats to acquire some hands-on experience and maybe get some badly needed confidence from volunteer instructors other than their husbands. Ray explains that the women do basic maneuvers in open water and then bring the boats up to the dock under the watchful eyes of the instructors. He then graciously invites Seaworthy to observe the training program at MTOA's fall rendezvous at Somers Cover Marina in Crisfield, Maryland. He said they were expecting 85 trawlers, with a good turnout for the training program.

Upon arriving at Somers Cover, Ray's prediction is soon confirmed: 30 wives-35% of the women at the rendezvous-have signed on to take the course. Seaworthy is assigned to work with Glenn Westervelt, a retired Coast Guard officer who is the principal MTOA instructor in the club's northern region.

Session one is held in the classroom, with Glenn reviewing boat handling skills, answering questions, and perhaps calming any butterflies the women may have. Safety issues, such as anchoring, communication signals, and man-overboard drills will be covered, he says, with the emphasis always toward hands-on training behind the wheel. The women are each assigned to boats that are similar to their own.

One goal of the program is to give the women the confidence and skill necessary to return a boat to the dock. (In the next few days, several wives will mention the fear of being helpless to handle the boat in an emergency as a compelling reason for signing on to the course.) Another goal is to teach teamwork-wives working together with husbands to get the boat into a slip or raise the anchor. All too often, the latter situation finds the woman going forward to handle the anchor while the beefier man remains comfortably at the controls. Wrestling with an unwieldy pile of metal and dripping mud isn't much fun and Glenn notes that a husband's boating days could be numbered if his wife doesn't enjoy being on the water. He thinks that men will ultimately benefit as much from the course as the women. Maybe more.

On the Water Training: Madam, Take the Helm

Glenn and his four pupils, Janet, Mary, Geneva, and Sandy are assigned to a 36' single screw trawler owned by Sandy and her husband Flip, who will also be aboard. Teaching in smaller groups, Glenn says, has one outstanding advantage: "The women go through the learning process together, watching each other taking the helm and providing invaluable support for one another."

Glenn's approach is to teach in gradual steps, meaning they must first get acquainted with maneuvering in the spacious harbor water before moving into the tighter confines of the marina. Somers Cover is well suited for the training because of its proximity to a large harbor as well as its assortment of dock configurations, which will allow the women to practice docking with the wind on various quarters.

As the boat begins moving slowly out toward the harbor, Glenn describes how they will first get the feel of maneuvering the boat. Flip, perhaps feeling a little nervous about volunteering his boat, emphasizes the need to slow back to idle speed and then pause a second before changing gears or (slaps his hands for emphasis) , " . . . you'll be slammin' the heck out of the inside of the transmission." Glenn had already covered the topic ashore, the women say, but the point is worth reiterating. Flip has only encouraging remarks throughout the rest of the day, even when maneuvering occasionally gets a little dicey.

First up to the helm is Janet, who took the course three years ago but still feels intimidated. She has been boating for eight years, which makes her the least experienced member in the group. Glenn encourages Janet to use short bursts of power on the throttle. She seems tentative. "Talk to the boat," he says gently. Janet takes the boat through a series of tight maneuvers while Glenn explains things like prop rotation and how it can be used to her advantage. His talking has a calming affect.

One by one, the other women take turns at the helm. After everyone successfully negotiates the pivot turn, Glenn is confident the women are ready to maneuver at the marina docks.

Geneva has been boating for 25 years, but again, she has no real experience at the helm. Before attempting to move the boat down between two piers to an insides slip, he directs Geneva to steer between the head of two piers so they can practice easing the bow in and out, while allowing ample room to back out into the fairway. This puts the boat in a three-way intersection where there is a little more room. By coincidence, she backs into the center of the cross fairway just as three boats-two from one side and a large tour boat on the other-are converging on the trawler. About 40 pairs of eyes are glued on her. Glenn talks her through it though, encouraging her to take her time. "Talk to it," he repeats, "talk to it." She turns on a dime and the other boats pass. Flip never flinches.

Mary too, has a long history on boats, but as she says, always going along for the ride. As Mary takes her turn at docking the wind starts picking up. "It's the wind that gets you," Mary says. She's right. The wind can catch the high profile of a trawler like a sail and quickly push it sideways against the dock or other boats. Fortunately, Glenn is always there, ready to jump in if needed. After emphasizing the benefit of keeping the bow into the wind whenever possible at slow speeds, a gust catches the bow, as if on cue, shortly after Sandy takes the wheel. Glenn quickly steps in and gives the throttle a few short bursts in reverse and forward to overcome the wind. The bow slowly turns. Sandy apologizes. "No problem," Glenn says, "that's why we're here."

A Triumphant Return

As the group finally approaches the home slip, the women are confident and enthusiastic; they had all overcame what only a couple hours ago had seemed daunting. Each expressed how much more relaxed she felt and that operating their own boats won't be the mystery it once was. Glenn encourages them a final time to keep practicing, "When we get back out on your own boats, kick the men off the helm, and say, ' I want to practice, I need to do this. Start doing it-practice anchoring and practice docking. That's how you learn and become more confident."

Glenn acknowledges that all of the women won't continue to practice as much as they should, of course, but all have taken a significant first step. He's optimistic.

Has the training ever been put to the test in a genuine emergency? Glenn says that it hasn't, although he thinks it's likely that someday it will be. "It's a two-edge sword," he says, "I don't want anyone getting hurt, of course, but it will be my finest hour if someone is ever saved because of this training."

Glenn then turns to the women, smiles, and asks, "So what are you going to do if your husband falls overboard?" They laugh and sing out, "KEEP GOING!"

Taking the Course!

The possibility that a crew member may have to suddenly take command of the boat is real: Captains fall overboard, have heart attacks, become seasick, and are injured. Last Labor Day weekend, to cite a recent example, a man and several friends went for a day cruise several miles off the coast of Florida, where he suddenly had a heart attack and was airlifted off the vessel to a hospital. Having no knowledge of how to operate the boat, the passengers were left stranded offshore until TowBoatU.S. arrived to tow them back to port. A less fortunate outcome occurred in another incident on the Chesapeake Bay, when a sailboat's skipper fell overboard and drowned because his wife did not know how to turn the boat around to retrieve him.

You may not be able to give every passenger who boards your boat a crash course in boat handling, but you can make certain that your family and crew know enough to get back safely in an emergency. For groups, the MTOA training program is an excellent model that other boat clubs can implement on their own boats.

The United States Power Squadrons (USPS) offer a supplemental program called the Skipper Saver course, which covers the essential information a stand-in skipper needs to know. The classroom training sessions are offered to the general public, however, the hands-on training component is not always offered in conjunction with the classroom session; it depends on the group. The course is offered only intermittently in certain areas. To find USPS course offerings in your area, call the BoatU.S. Foundation CourseLine at 800-336-2628, or go to boatus.com/Courseline, or call the USPS at 1-888-FOR-USPS.

Another option is to use the Skipper Saver self-study manual as a training textbook in conjunction with hands-on training program offered by a club, or, if you dare, your spouse. The self-study manual may be ordered by calling USPS as well.

From the January 2002 issue of Seaworthy, the BoatU.S. Marine Insurance Loss Prevention Newsletter