Changing Course A Woman's Guide to Choosing the Cruising Life

Men are from Mars, women are from Venus - like other best-selling clich?s, this one loses meaning with each repetition. But nowhere are the differences in planetary origin between men and women more evident than in the cramped, sometimes uncomfortable or downright scary confinement of a small boat at sea. In its review of Sailing - A Woman's guide, Sailing magazine pinpointed some of the differences this way: ask any couple living aboard an average-size cruising boat: men troubleshoot; women problem-solve. Men need to know what; women need to know why. Men prefer to learn by doing, figuring out things as they go along; women are more comfortable figuring out how things work before swinging into action. Those differences of a[[roach are commonly and dramatically evident in a couple's initial choice whether to pursue the cruising at all. Typically the man proposes and the woman disposes, and regardless of her choice, the marriage or relationship may or may not survive the consequences. This scenario is becoming ever more common as our means increase along with our work weeks, our discontent, and the visible role models offering a seafaring alternative.