#75: How to Get Your Wife to Go Cruising

“She is NOT a passenger, she is crew!” is one of our main tips at https://havewindwilltravel.com. There’s no magic secret to getting your wife (husband, boyfriend, girlfriend, significant other) on board with cruising. She just needs to know the realities and infinite rewards of the lifestyle and want those. Share those basic philosophies with her first and cruising will become merely the means to your mutual end. Once she’s on board in principle, get her (comfortably and confidently) on board in practice with sailing lessons and continued training and teaching together. “Put her behind the helm!” says Linus Wilson. “Make her retrieve a cushion,” says Pam Wall. “Get over your fear of crossing an ocean!” says Lazy Gecko Brittany. And, most importantly: “Remember it is not about the boat or the destination, it is about your shared desires and the more fulfilling life you both want to live together,” says Nick O’Kelly, author of Get Her on Board.

I have worked hard to pull together lots of viewpoints, perspectives and advice from fellow cruisers and trusted sources for you all. If you are struggling to get your significant other on board with cruising, I hope you find this video as well as the resources and interview below helpful. Please let me know in a comment below.

RESOURCES:

My complete interview with Nick O’Kelly: https://youtu.be/TI2EBLqVksc

Four real “cruising” wife interviews in my August 26, 2016 blog post: https://havewindwilltravel.com/2016/08/26/75-how-to-get-your-wife-to-go-cruising/

Nick O’Kelly’s Get Her On Board: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008P4WR68/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1#nav-subnav

Book Review: Get Her on Board by Women and Cruising’s Gwen Hamlin: http://www.womenandcruising.com/blog/2010/06/get-her-on-board-secrets-to-sharing-the-cruising-dream/

Nick O’Kelly’s “6 Mistakes Men Make in Sharing their Sailing Passion”: http://www.womenandcruising.com/blog/2010/07/6-mistakes-men-make-in-sharing-their-sailing-passion/

Debra Cantrell’s Changing Course: A Woman’s Guide to Choosing the Cruising Life: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014DBEFC/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1#nav-subnav

Many women have told me my first book, Salt of a Sailor, vocalized all of the stupid questions they wanted to ask when learning how to sail but didn’t. If there’s a chance it can do that for your significant other, pick up a copy on Amazon or email me for a free eCopy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T7YGKJU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00T7YGKJU&linkCode=as2&tag=havewcom-20&linkId=3UM4C3FFPWHIBTGM#nav-subnav

Pam Wall Sailing and Cruising Consultant: http://www.pamwall.com

Lazy Gecko Sailing: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwIThXjmw8eBlEfFZLgZ3-g

Women and Cruising: http://www.womenandcruising.com

Women Who Sail (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/WomenWhoSail/

Beth Leonard’s Voyager’s Handbook: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0072UO1VA/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1#nav-subnav

“How to Convince a Reluctant Partner to Go Cruising” (Catamaran Guru): http://catamaranguru.com/lifestyle/cruising-resources/300-how-to-convince-a-reluctant-partner-to-go-cruising