Any other yachting widows?

A

Aquarella

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19 Sep 2011
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Sweden/Greece
www.elizabethtyler.com
After sailing around the Med for many years my husband unfortunately died, leaving me with the boat in Greece. I intend to keep the boat and go on sailing as long as I can. Are there any other widows out there who've done the same? Do you have any good advice?
 
Welcome to the Forum. I guess most of the same advice for any single or single handed sailor, male or female, would apply. Think through & plan handling the boat on your own, pick somewhere sociable to keep it. I'm sure the boat you have will have many fond memories but maybe downsizing could be something to think about if it is a handfull single-handed? Best of luck with everything...:D
 
Aquarella said:
After sailing around the Med for many years my husband unfortunately died, leaving me with the boat in Greece. I intend to keep the boat and go on sailing as long as I can. Are there any other widows out there who've done the same? Do you have any good advice?
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Hello and welcome. It must be a bit lonely at times for you and so it might just be a good idea for you to form a club "JUST FOR LADY SAILORS" Any way good luck.

Peter
 
Hi Aquarella,

Sorry for your loss. Your choice of title is an interesting one, as a "Yachting Widow" is a phrase normally used to describe a wife who stays at home while her husband is always on his yacht.

Can you sail the boat on your own, or are you looking for only female sailors to join you?
If so, what age group?
 
If you are looking for inspiration you need go no further than Jeanne Socrates, www.svnereida.com. who since being widowed has taken on single handed circumnavigation, she's currently on her third one and at the ripe old age(!) of 67.!
She took some time out from the boat after her bereavement to learn or brush up skills that she was unsure of and then set off on the boat.
 
wow! 67 yr old widow circumnavigating!

Gerry said:
If you are looking for inspiration you need go no further than Jeanne Socrates, www.svnereida.com. who since being widowed has taken on single handed circumnavigation, she's currently on her third one and at the ripe old age(!) of 67.!
She took some time out from the boat after her bereavement to learn or brush up skills that she was unsure of and then set off on the boat.
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Thanks so much for the link, thats just what I needed. I'm not that ambitious, but I need to know that anything can be done. I've always loved sailing and living on board so why should I stop now?
 
Aquarella said:
Thanks so much for the link, thats just what I needed. I'm not that ambitious, but I need to know that anything can be done. I've always loved sailing and living on board so why should I stop now?
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Whilst the majority of single-handers I've met during the last 14 years have been men (and very strange ones into the bargain) the 4 female single-handers (NZ,US Fr and UK) have all been much better adjusted than the men and very appreciative of being fed. I'd guess at least one was about your age but none were widowed (which is a big psychological shock).
The NZ girl was a nurse working her way back from the UK, the US was a New Yorker (all of whom are a little eccentric) the French girl was an airline cabin-attendant who'd split with her boyfriend pilot (he got the flat in Antibes and she got the Centurion) and the UK girl was Cornish and had been mad about boats since age 8. The last was particularly good company as we had a lot of mutual acquaintances.
 
Aquarella said:
Thanks so much for the link, thats just what I needed. I'm not that ambitious, but I need to know that anything can be done. I've always loved sailing and living on board so why should I stop now?
Click to expand...

Absolutely, there is nothing you cannot do now that you did before!

Take it gently, ask for help (people are mostly very kind) and just see where the wind takes you. Best of luck.
 
Gerry said:
Absolutely, there is nothing you cannot do now that you did before!

Take it gently, ask for help (people are mostly very kind) and just see where the wind takes you. Best of luck.
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Thank you, good advice, I'll remember that.
When you think about it, the vast majority of yachting couples in the Med are retired or at least far from young. Sooner or later one of them will pass away leaving the other alone with a boat. There's a 50% chance that it will be the wife. Why shouldn't they go on living the life they enjoyed so much when they were together? Many men do so why are the single-handed old ladies so seldom heard of or seen? I think I'll start my own blog to let you all know how it goes -if it goes :cool:
 
Aquarella said:
Thank you, good advice, I'll remember that.
When you think about it, the vast majority of yachting couples in the Med are retired or at least far from young. Sooner or later one of them will pass away leaving the other alone with a boat. There's a 50% chance that it will be the wife. Why shouldn't they go on living the life they enjoyed so much when they were together? Many men do so why are the single-handed old ladies so seldom heard of or seen? I think I'll start my own blog to let you all know how it goes -if it goes :cool:
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Please do!

Best of luck... hope your adventures are fabulous ones!
 
Gerry said:
If you are looking for inspiration you need go no further than Jeanne Socrates, www.svnereida.com. who since being widowed has taken on single handed circumnavigation, she's currently on her third one and at the ripe old age(!) of 67.!
She took some time out from the boat after her bereavement to learn or brush up skills that she was unsure of and then set off on the boat.
Click to expand...

AKA The Energiser Bunny ;)
 
Somewhere, a long time ago, I read of a lady who's husband died while they were preparing for a round the world trip. It was her husbands dream, she was just going along with him, however left alone with the boat she decided to do it anyway.

Even longer ago, (1981 I think) I did a short preparation course before taking the yachtmaster exam as a direct entrant. Our skipper / instructor was a very attractive lady who was also the best skipper I have sailed with. It was quite funny when we tied up at the Joint Services marina and a young military person came to ask why we were there. He headed for the largest male assuming this guy was the skipper. We all stepped back so that he was left facing our real skipper.

Just a thought, statistically women live longer than men so there must be a lot of ladies who are left boats, but very few sail on.

Perhaps we men should consider what we are doing to our wives or partners confidence while we are sailing together. I met my second wife a few years ago through a shared interest in sailing, and we decided on our first trip that it would be far more sensible if we can both handle the boat. There was a vast difference in our experience but she is catching up. Last summer we were to go through the Caledonian Canal on out way back to our winter base, so we agreed that she would take the boat through and I would crew. Entering the sea lock at Corpach was very difficult, once along side the lady lock keeper told me how well my wife had done, so I asked her to tell my wife that. Later on we met another retired couple (by the looks of them) also taking their boat through. The lady was very surprised and possibly envious that my wife was doing all the boat handling. Once her skipper was out of hearing range she confided "my husband wouldn't let me do anything like that, he shouts at me whenever I try to help".

My wife's sailing blog: http://voyager35-cruising.blogspot.co.uk/
 
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