Do women really not like heavy weather?

[PlanB]

On our flybridge cruiser. I (the female) did most of the helming and the chart plotting. We always thought it made more sense for the male to do the lines as he was more nimble and stronger than me.
However, after one particularly bad time in Biscay, I refused to put to sea if I didn't like the look of the forecast.

 

[johnalison]

.My wife has always said that she does not like heavy weather
We had been stuck in Ostend for a month because SWMBO said it was too rough to go to Breskens & up the canals. BUT she volunteered to go in the RNSYC's old committee boat ( known as the "Pig" due to its rolly motion) It was for the Belgian National Dragon Championships. On the first day it was so rough the International race officer was on the cockpit floor sick as a dog. The wife , being a race officer at home, ran the race starts & flags as the 2 fishermen volunteering to helm the boat & assist did not know what to do.

On the return after the first race I asked her how on earth she could go out in such rough weather in a small boat ( It really was rough) & not sail with me to Breskens.
I had the biggest put down she has ever given me
"They were fishermen- THEY KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING"
She does not sail with me anymore.

That's very sad. Fortunately for me, my education taught me how to bluff successfully. My wife still imagines that I know what I am doing and nearly fifty years of cock-ups have not not yet changed her mind.

 

[Mudisox]

My father[who also sailed], once said to me that if I found a woman who liked sailing and going to sea, then hang onto them.
At the time [late teens and early 20s] I tried to test the market quite a lot.
A lot failed the test though.

 

[Stemar]

That's very sad. Fortunately for me, my education taught me how to bluff successfully. My wife still imagines that I know what I am doing and nearly fifty years of cock-ups have not not yet changed her mind.

I got found out off St Albans Ledge

 

[Kukri]

My father’s sister was married for more than sixty years but she confessed that she was never more impressed by her husband than when in the fourth year of their marriage he announced, in mid North Sea, that “we should see Westkappelle light shortly” and … there it was.

 

[dom]

My father’s sister was married for more than sixty years but she confessed that she was never more impressed by her husband than when in the fourth year of their marriage he announced, in mid North Sea, that “we should see Westkappelle light shortly” and … there it was.

Wow, in the days of dead reckoning, respect!

Once he hadn't glimpsed the loom or similar earlier, thereby teeing-up his moment of eschatological rapture

 

[Kukri]

Wow, in the days of dead reckoning, respect!

Once he hadn't glimpsed the loom or similar earlier, thereby teeing-up his moment of eschatological rapture

My uncle and aunt were married in 1916; the opportunity to enquire further has passed, but this was the boat in question, the yacht smack “Alanna”, photographed by Douglas Went at Pin Mill in subsequent ownership in 1937:

 

[johnalison]

I got found out off St Albans Ledge

I think that the critical point is where the lady in question gets frightened. My latest trick, when something unnerving is in prospect, is to send my wife to fetch a camera, and set her to work recording the scene. I’ve got away with this a couple of times but it might be wearing thin.

I would not suggest that only women get scared at sea. A sailing companion of ours brought their Neptunian back from somewhere like Dunkerque on a day when there was fog. In spite of having radar, they scared themselves silly and sold the boat. He took up hill-climbing and flying insread.

 

[Poignard]

My wife retires below in inclement weather; inclement being a term loosely interpreted.

My uncle and aunt were married in 1916; the opportunity to enquire further has passed, but this was the boat in question, the yacht smack “Alanna”, photographed by Douglas Went at Pin Mill in subsequent ownership in 1937:

View attachment 117829

Good to see skippers properly attired.

Harrumph!

 

[Stemar]

He took up flying instead.

So he could fly into a cloud and scare himself properly...

The most scared I've ever been on a boat was mid-channel in fog. No radar, AIS didn't exist, and we could hear a ship's engines getting closer. Everyone on deck, with lifejackets. It passed a couple of hundred metres ahead of us.

 

[Bru]

She ... is the only person I know who has gone to sleep in the forecabin of a Twister beating into F8.

My missus went to sleep in the forecabin of our Sabre 27 whilst beating into an F8

She's not a fan of heavy weather but she'll tolerate it if needs must. Which frankly is pretty much how i feel about it!

 

[Kukri]

My wife retires below in inclement weather; inclement being a term loosely interpreted.

Good to see skippers properly attired.

Harrumph!

The hoops on the starboard rail for stowing the sweep and the spinnaker pole were my uncle’s invention.

 

[johnalison]

So he could fly into a cloud and scare himself properly...

The most scared I've ever been on a boat was mid-channel in fog. No radar, AIS didn't exist, and we could hear a ship's engines getting closer. Everyone on deck, with lifejackets. It passed a couple of hundred metres ahead of us.

He bought a 1/14 share in a Piper Cub, but only a couple of them flew it regularly. I'm not sure they ever do much more than about 30 mph do they?

 

[westhinder]

My missus went to sleep in the forecabin of our Sabre 27 whilst beating into an F8

She's not a fan of heavy weather but she'll tolerate it if needs must. Which frankly is pretty much how i feel about it!

There speaks the voice of reason. We too prefer to avoid real heavy weather, but we know we can confidently handle it if we have to. If something goes wrong or otherwise needs attention in difficult conditions, there is no one I trust more to helm the boat than my wife.

 

[LittleSister]

I think people who self select for messing about in boats are likely more comfy with the idea of waves etc than those who do not

I am very comfy with the idea of waves.

It's only the actual waves that trouble me!

 

[Laminar Flow]

I do not like heavy weather, not because I get seasick, but because it can be an expensive experience and I've got enough things to fix on board as is. My wife doesn't like it much either. Fresh from shore, she can get a bit of mal de mer, but we drug her with Gravol, upon which she goes to sleep in the wheelhouse, while I carry on singlehanded. We have been caught out in anything up to a F9/10 at which point she takes over the helm (and is generally fine), while I ply her with tea and hot soup.

Before we met she had been and lived on boats in her younger years and she was one of the founding mothers of the only gaffers race on the West Coast. She also co-authored a book on a local designer.

On the facebook group for our particular brand someone once asked what kind of weather people had been out in. The local expert boasted he'd been out in a F6 gusting 7 - she just smiled at that.
She always looks forward to our summers on the boat. When I asked her about some of the rough sailing we've had she told me that she trusts me (something I hope never to disappoint her in) and that the good always outweighed the bad (so far). Besides, she would rather go down with the ship with me on it, she said, than to be left alone - true love that.

 

[Daedelus]

Crossing the channel in very confused sea with much stronger winds than forecast and continuous rain rather than occasional showers and t'other half suddenly gives me a beaming smile and says "Cheer up, you enjoy this"

 

[Deleted member 36384]

The hoops on the starboard rail for stowing the sweep and the spinnaker pole were my uncle’s invention.

I use a similar arrangement, in stainless, but inboard, to hold my danbuoy horizontally. It's easier on my centre cockpit just to flip it over the side where it self rights, rather than get to the stern and lift out a vertical holder.

 

[johnalison]

Crossing the channel in very confused sea with much stronger winds than forecast and continuous rain rather than occasional showers and t'other half suddenly gives me a beaming smile and says "Cheer up, you enjoy this"

That is a bit more forgiving than my wife's version, which is "I suppose you're enjoying this".

 

[Bilgediver]

i have to smile when I see comments like this. My late wife loved heavy weather. A good storm and she was in her element enjoying every moment. Sometimes having to hang on for dear life but her trust was with the crew. In fact the only time she showed any alarm was one calm noonday mid Pacific and sitting in our cabin facing a forward window she and the wife of another crew member saw the horizon ahead slide up and out of view at the top of the window. This was followed by an enormous bump and severe roll to starboard and back which was accompanied by the sound of turbo chargers surging down below as the engines took the load . By the time she reached the bridge accompanied by the skipper it was all serene and calm and just the sound of vast amounts of water running off the deck below. Luckily it was lunchtime so the paint squad were safe in their Mess room. It didn't help that prior to this voyage she had seen the film Poseidon Adventure.

Heavy weather no problem. Tsunamis a different matter though this was a deep trough and not a wave and boy was it travelling .
No wonder sailors back in the days of sail talked of ships falling into black holes in the ocean at night. Even more impressive when seen from the bridge of a ship in the noon day sun. There had almost been no warning other then a dark shadow of a line approaching the ship from ahead on a calm blue sea.

Don't get many of these around the UK so should not be a problem here!