which probably accounted for about 1% of us.
Out of a dozen I can think of, about 4 were throwaways and didn't last very long. This sounds about the same as their male counterparts. A tour or two and they were gone. They found out fast that it's not for everyone.
The rest of them found themselves a home on the water and simply became deckhands just like everyone else and not too many of the guys thought about it after a while.
A handful of them headed into the wheelhouse and one I recall became an assistant engineer. The Chief commented she had exceptionally nimble fingers which is certainly a plus when it comes to fixing stuff with small parts in it.
I remember about 15 years ago talking to one newcomer that was trying to fit in by being one of the guys. That never seems to work out very well simply because as a woman one is simply not one of the guys. I coached her a bit.
I told her to realize she was not one of the guys and to stop trying. She was actually simply a woman working in a very male dominated industry and to realize it and act accordingly.
I told her to show up for crew change in a pair of woman-cut jeans and a blouse and to slip the outfit on when she went ashore for errands like grub shopping. Between that, just do your job as best you can and you'll be OK.
She did just fine and turned into a respected deckhand in a short time.
There was another interesting woman that I believe grew up on the water and spent her early years on a tug with her father when she wasn't in school. She was hired as a mate and shortly afterwards was promoted to captain. A few years later she announced she was getting married and quietly told me that she planned on having a kid but had a deal going with her husband that he'd work from home and she'd return to working on tugs after things settled in. Later she became pregnant and went ashore.
Sure enough, about 3 years later she was spotted in NY Harbor running a day boat. She was seen regularly there for quite some time and Rumor Control had it she was working in the Gulf running a pretty good sized tug.
For a while I had a regular tug that had a 'girly-girl' mate. She was funny because she'd sit in the wheelhouse waiting for us to load while she knitted Afghans clad in a girly sweater. When it was time to sail she'd stuff her knitting into a bag, crank the sound powered phone and tell the Chief, "Fire 'em up!" and wrestle a loaded barge off the dock. It was an amusing transformation.
One time her flight home got screwed up. I was headed to MA from my crew change to visit family and offered her a ride which she gratefully accepted. She taught me how to use WAZE instead of my GPS. IIRC I still had a flip phone at the time. I took her to the Quincy T and she managed to get into Boston and catch a ride home from there without any problem.
One half-pint girl that got my attention was pretty lacking in the upper body strength. She couldn't really throw lines very well. Personally I didn't care and happily tossed her a hook line and hauled them aboard.
Later I commented to the Chief that she seemed to lack upper body strength. He told me she made up for it by being a damned good cook and good with a paint brush. Then he gave me a the Mafioso making a drug deal look and told me, "She musta gotten a Charles Atlas course on eBay because she's shoveling down the protein and works out pumping iron after every watch. Keep it under your hat so she doesn't get her chops busted."
A few weeks later the tug was reassigned to the Gulf or somewhere and I lost touch with them. About a year or so later I ran into the skipper and asked him how she was doing and he laughed. "She kept eating her Wheaties and is still pumping iron and turned out to be a pretty handy deckhand." I have a lot of respect for that.
Generally these woman were accepted by their male counterparts and quickly became a part of the woodwork and I recall the biggest problem they had wasn't with the guys. It was with their wives.
I sometimes heard someone say, "If my wife found out I was working with a woman out here she'd raise holy hell. She says she'd trust me but doesn't trust her."
A couple of times I'd reply, "It takes two so I guess that means she doesn't trust you very much." It pissed a couple guys off so I stopped doing it. No use looking for trouble.
One thing I have noticed about women on the water is they rarely last. While I imagine the woman that returned to work after her child was settled in with her father is likely to be a grandmother running an ATB somewhere, most women at sea are in their 20s and go ashore after a few years. Women in their 30s are somewhat rare and with one exception, I have seen only one woman over 40 out here. I don't know why that is.
As I think about this it makes me wonder why not because most women have maternal instincts and the source of all life is the sea. Just for that reason it's surprising we don't have a lot more women out there.
To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this:
http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY
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