Good Morning, Sailors:
Now that we are approaching the end of March, it seems appropriate to point out that, though many of us may not realize it, March in America is recognized as Woman's History Month. It grew out of a small-town school event in Northern California, a week-long celebration of women’s contributions to culture, history and society organized by the Sonoma County School District in 1978. A few years later, the idea garnered nationwide attention, and in 1980, President Jimmy Carter issued the first presidential proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week. Congress followed suit the next year, passing a resolution establishing a national celebration. Six years later, the National Women’s History Project successfully petitioned Congress to expand the event to the entire month of March.
It is in this historical vein that I segue into the story of why boats are referred to as "she". History has all but completely blurred the exact reason why boats are called she, although explanations abound of a mostly folk variety, assumed or invented after the fact as a way of making sense of the phenomenon. Boats are a truly interesting case in English, as they are among the only inanimate objects that take a gendered pronoun, whereas most others are called it.
Notwithstanding the folksy cloud under which the historical derivation of the practice resides, there exist at least two plausible theories as to why we refer to our boats as she. First, boats traditionally received female names and were often christened with the name of an important woman in the life of the owner, such as his mother or daughter, or sometimes a hyphenated version including both, i.e., S/V Betty-Sue.
Many naval historians surmise that all ships were once dedicated to goddesses, and later to important mortal women when belief in goddesses waned. Ironically, although male captains and sailors historically attributed the spirit of a benevolent female figure to their ships, actual women were once considered very bad luck at sea.
A second plausible theory, though not nearly as romantic as the first, points to the existence of grammatical gender in Indo-European languages, including English. Modern English has hardly any grammatical gender, but, in the annals of linguistic history, it appears that English once had a more extensive system of grammatical gender, similar to that in languages such as German and French. It turns out that. in most Indo-European languages with grammatical gender, the word for "ship" is feminine.
I expect that you are all completely confused and wondering what I put in my coffee this morning. Well, here's the final segue: March is not only Women's History Month, it is also, for many of us, the beginning of our boating season here in the Santa Barbara Channel. As we manly men believe we must care for our women, and March is Women's History Month, and March is the beginning of our boating season...….here it comes...….the segue of the week, it is also a great time to start giving our boats the TLC they deserve so that our vessels may grant us a full spring and summer of carefree and safe boating. Wow! There it is!
For many us, annual preparation and cleaning projects are necessary rites of spring that help prevent problems that could keep us off the water once the season is underway. Here's a checklist of a variety of items to pay attention to (your own check list may be longer or shorter. Just make sure you have one and go for it):
1. Inspect the fuel system for leaks or damage and be sure to pay special attention to fuel hoses, connections and tank surfaces.
2. Check belts, cables and hoses because they can become brittle and may crack during winter storage.
3. Ensure the engine, exhaust and ventilation systems are all functioning properly.
4. Inspect all electrical connections for clean, tight, corrosion free connections.
5. Charge your battery and have it tested to ensure it can hold a charge.
6. Check your safety gear, especially life jackets to ensure they are in good condition and that there are enough on board for all potential passengers.
7. Make sure your bilge pumps work.
8. Check sea strainers.
9. Inspect your standing and running rigging.
10. Make sure the vessel is good and clean inside and out.
Most important of all, however, is to make sure you sign up for Homeport Regatta. We will not take any entries after April 30. If you have friends in Ventura Harbor who will be joining us, we can have a slip for them for the weekend available, but these slips are limited so it is important to act now.
Have a great weekend! As always, if you have any questions or need any information about Homeport Regatta, or if you need an entry packet, please do not hesitate to contact me here at Homeportregatta@yahoo.com.
Best,
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