people have faith in my abilities.” A female colleague told her that she’s proud to see a woman in an officer’s role and it’s given her the faith to keep working hard. “It’s worth it to be patient and work on making your dreams come true. Never doubt yourself.”
Leah, a sailing mate, said “While I have indeed faced a lot of denial and criticism for working on deck, I never could help myself. I love what I do and have always held fast that if someone doesn’t think I can do it or doesn’t want to give me the same opportunity as my male counterparts, then I wouldn’t enjoy working for them anyway.” At the start of her career she had a temp opportunity on a beautiful classic vessel, and found her mentor; the current Captain. He helped her learn about the ups and downs of the industry and after keeping in touch for a time, she was hired to be his first mate. Leah found his input invaluable. “I always try to work smarter not harder. I wake up every morning excited for the new challenges of working on a boat, and the paycheck at the end of the month is a happy bonus. My focus was always fueled by the naysayers. I have worked hard to get to where I
As a result she is currently skippering a beautiful 60ft yacht and says, “Here I am today, over a year after accepting this position, as happy in my job as I was the day I accepted the job! I now have a year’s solid experience as a skipper, a very good owner’s reference and genuine happiness in my job!” When asked if she had some advice for new crew, Abby said, “It’s not been an entirely smooth ride, and anyone that tells you that this industry is easy is definitely lying. But every lump, bump and hurdle has made me a better, stronger and more knowledgeable person.
My advice to anyone, no matter whether you are a guy or a girl, want to be a steward or an engineer, is to persevere. Be your absolute best at all times, learn from everyone you follow, your mistakes and theirs, ask questions rather than guessing, on my boat, there is no such thing as a stupid question. It may not come to you when you wanted it to (I wanted to be a captain at 25, and have crossed the Atlantic 10 times, turns out I was captain at 26 and have crossed the Atlantic 8 times), but it will happen if you really want it!”
MY ADVICE TO ANYONE, NO MATTER WHETHER YOU ARE A GUY OR A GIRL, WANT TO BE A STEWARD OR AN ENGINEER, IS TO PERSEVERE. BE YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST AT ALL TIMES, LEARN FROM EVERYONE YOU FOLLOW
am, but I guess I’ve also been luckier than some in that I had people who noticed potential in me and nudged me forward.” It’s important to find people around you who will support you and help you achieve your goals.
Abby, a skipper at the tender age of 26, overcame serious injury (from a yachting accident) which could have ended her career. Despite being left high and dry by the yacht, she undertook a year of surgeries and physio to ensure she kept her dreams alive. Finding her abilities to be doubted by sailing captains, she took a job on a motoryacht for a season whilst reassessing.
This turned out to be a brilliant move – that captain was great to work with, and gave her a glowing reference which set her up to head back into sailing as mate on an oyster 885. Her new captain was an excellent mentor and helped Abby learn more about engineering and boat handling, and pushed her in the right direction. She’s a strong believer in never burning your bridges, and has enjoyed having some great mentors in her career.
Captain/Engineer Zehra said it quite simply, “Girls just need to focus on success at their job other than negativity or sexism. You just need to show how smart, intelligent and strong you are besides your beauty... then everyone will listen to you, look at you in the room... and respect you more. It is simple.”
So to sum up, as Jenny puts it, “Being a woman in this industry is an amazing experience that has forced me to grow as a person, realise my own power and build amazing relationships with men and women equally. As women we have so many beautiful men out there who support and love us and they far outweigh the ones that don’t. I love being part of this journey and just hope that when the time comes to hang up my uniform I can be happy that I was part of a movement and did some good things with some good people.”
In conclusion, let’s all support each other, male and female, and help one another to achieve our dreams and goals whatever they might be!
ONBOARD | SPRING 2018 | 35
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