My favourite Women friendly design features

[Wilma Ham]

To show that working boats also know about comfort and visibility, here are some pictures from Rotterdam and visibility!
I wouldn't mind one of these contraptions.

[Wilma Ham]

I think I should have a word with John about women friendly features beofer the next holiday.

Clever people do car on boat, we do boat on car?! :

(

[lazeyjack]

going to hire canal boat one day on Rhine, where sometimes the river runs 9 knots, so you need lots of boogy to stem the current, what a lifestyle those bargees have, welcome back, see you next week maybe

[Guillermo]

Originally Posted by Wilma Ham

Clever people do car on boat....

Yes, but when you're in a hurry at late night after having had some drinks with friends....!

[lazeyjack]

Originally Posted by Guillermo

Yes, but when you're in a hurry at late night after having had some drinks with friends....!

anyone who swallows that knows zilch about boats!! looka t the slack lines)

[Wilma Ham]

I asked Michel DeRidder to comment on the post about the wonderful seats in the cockpit and here are his more accurate additions:

We had a look at your posting. It would be more accurate if our cockpit "chairs" were pilot seats, and if they stowed away against the cockpit coamings rather than the wall... also they are not really gimballed but rather adjustable for angle of heel.
Michel.

I do agree that it will help when I address things by their proper maritime name. However sometimes I miss the language to do so, but I am learning.

[Wilma Ham]

Haha Guillermo, I see your point. But why is the woman left to deal with it?

And Stuart, yes canal boats are wonderful creatures and they look like a lot of fun. There is another thread here on the Forum where they are talking about Dutch barges and they referred to a link about barges which have a collapsable pilot house so you can go under bridges. Amazing stuff.
I do hope to see you when you are in NZ.

[Wilma Ham]

Easy storage is an issue anywhere but on a boat it really deserves a lot of attention.
So I want drawers. You stow a lot in drawers if they have runners that fully extend.
It means that not all space can be used as for example with the drawers under the bed. However at least I will use the space I can access. When storage is not easy accessible I wouldn't use it anyway -waste of space here too- or I will put stuff there that I will not use ever again -waste of space again.

These pictures are from a variety of boats. However some kitchen drawer photos are from the famous DeRidders boat, built 43 years ago. I know why Jane is still living on Magic Dragon. She has heaps of drawers and nice china. Some kitchen and pot drawer photos are of recent boat show photos and not that much diffrent from magic Dragons.

DeRidders haven't had any problem with drawers in all their years sailing.
The kitchen drawers are not situated on the hull side of the boat, so they are not that much effected by heeling. The boat is very stable as most live-aboards should be.

I have put one photo in of a bad example of storage I don't like and I guess it will not be hard to spot the one I mean or....

I know you might say that the photos show a lot of waste of space in the drawers and under the bed, however less is more in this case.

[Wilma Ham]

Another women friendly feature are things that make maneuvering the boat easier and men that feel okay about using them.

On the Dutch barge thread I picked up this quote about bow thrusters:

I can imagine charter companies install bow thrusters on their yachts but everytime i used it i felt like cheating.

Once, a long time ago, i sailed with an ex towboat captain devoting his time to old flatbottomed sailing craft. On a return trip from Denmark where he saved one from fishing stones and only 1.5 of the 4 historical cylinders working he asked me to hoist a foresail when the boat was in a seemingly hopeless position in the buzzy harbor. The boat quickly moved out of trouble. The 10 minutes before this happened i was wondering why he send me to the fore deck. Perhaps a small mast on the "dutch barge" is not a bad idea.

edit: after reading the last part of this message a realized a bow thruster could have done the same.

[DanishBagger]

Originally Posted by Wilma Ham

Another women friendly feature are things that make maneuvering the boat easier and men that feel okay about using them.

On the Dutch barge thread I picked up this quote about bow thrusters:

I can imagine charter companies install bow thrusters on their yachts but everytime i used it i felt like cheating.

edit: after reading the last part of this message a realized a bow thruster could have done the same.

Yes, but why not both? A sail is quite useless if there's no wind, and electronics and mechanicals (is that a word) tend to go wrong at the worst time. If you invest in a bowthruster, why not add a stick and a piece of cloth?

just my two øre ...

[Wilma Ham]

Haha, thanks for your two 'ore'.

I totally agree, have both and in need use all the mechanical devices you have without feeling a cheat.

This was another reply about using bow thrusters on that same thread, and it looks like his wife still joins him.

Yup, I feel like I am cheating but my wife is not on pins and needles wondering if things will be okay in dicey situations. I will take cheating over a back set captain any day of the week.

[DanishBagger]

I never cheat.

Well, I do, but when it matters, I don't consider it cheating to use the best tools at hand.

Only when I'm doing things for enjoyment, as a "sport", some things would be cheating. But if it's not enjoyable, there's nothing that I consider cheating.

[Wilma Ham]

Cool, I guess you have lots of people wanting to come boating with you.

[DanishBagger]

Not really - it's an open boat (that's all I could afford), and I don't know many people boating. But I guess – should I look at myself in a very postive light (haha), that it goes for any- and everything I do in life: If it works, use it. And that seems to be appreciated. :-)

[Wilma Ham]

In the February issue of Latitude 38 there were letters from women to the editor to answer a man's plea about what it takes to get a woman to come sailing. All these women stressed that they have happy sailing experiences.

I quote some here with longer term stays and live aboard boats in mind.

The most important things to have were:

lots of fresh water
lots of hot water
lots of electricity, no turning off lights when she turns her back and no complaining about the use of electricity
have a light airy interior
have large, easy accessible storage spaces for her things too
don't have water leaking on her bed or clothes
have decent dinner sets and glasses, get over the breakage issue
don't have nautical themes all over the boat

The most important things to do were:
no yelling by all parties
no sailing hard out the first few times, keep the rail out of the water
go ashore regularly the first few times and eat in a nice restaurant
regularly say how much you appreciate each other
share all the tasks, the sailing ones and the housekeeping once, don't let the women do all the 'pink' jobs
encourage the woman to have lessons and become an accomplished sailor herself. Have her feel adequate and useful. This was a big one and I think a the most important one

After having summarised all this, I think it is the other way around.
[b]If this is what is required to have us come along, it might be that actually the men are not that keenB]