Recreational boating, an industry with a $4.2 billion annual economic impact in Maryland, is a hobby seemingly dominated by men. In the United States last year, only 15% of boat buyers were women, a slight decrease from 16% in 2021, according to data from the National Marine Manufacturers Association, a trade association that represents boat and marine engine manufacturers in the U.S.
In Maryland, however, there are efforts underway to attract more women to the activity and make them feel at home on the water.
“When women see other women doing things, they get more inspired and encouraged that they could do that, too,” said Beverly “Bev” Rosella, a Delaware resident who co-owns a number of Freedom Boat Club locations across multiple states, including in Maryland and Washington, D.C.
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| Woman boater! |
The international, membership-based boating club has 10 locations in Maryland. In the Baltimore area, Rosella estimated that approximately 33% of Harbor East members and close to 40% of Middle River members are women. When she purchased the Maryland and D.C. clubs with her husband, Tom Rosella, and their nephew, Josh Rosella, in 2021, female members made up about 30%.
Across the Freedom Boat Club network in the U.S., 35% or more of members are women, Rosella said, adding that it’s her goal to attract even more.
“The word is getting out,” she said of what she described as a changing tide. “There are a lot more women out there, there are a lot more role models.”
For Freedom Boat Club members, it’s not necessary to own a boat to take one for a spin. They make a reservation and show up at a club location, where staffers prepare a boat for their departure and await their return — a sort of nautical version of car-sharing services.
Baltimore’s Harbor East outpost provides access to two center console boats, two pontoon boats and two Bayliner deck boats. Members are required to take an initial training course, Rosella said, but they’re also invited to take advantage of as much additional — and free — training as they’d like.
During one training session in the waters off Kent Island, roughly two years ago, McAvoy recalled being instructed to “stop, turn off the motor and just pause.” Within moments, a pod of dolphins appeared near the boat.
“It was so calm, it was so peaceful, and it really gave me the sense of what I had done for myself,” she said.
SeaSisters, a group for female Freedom Boat Club members, is also designed to bolster confidence.
At the Annapolis School of Seamanship in Eastport, founded by John Martino two decades ago, a course titled “Women at the Wheel” is offered exclusively for women.
Martino, a 49-year-old Annapolis resident and CEO of Chesapeake Bay Media, said he was initially “resistant” to the idea of offering such a class. “It’s all the same material we’re teaching,” he recalled thinking. “Why would I specify who can come to the class?”
It took convincing from Tara Davis, who formerly worked at National Marine Manufacturers Association and managed the Baltimore Boat Show, to launch the course, initially as a boat show seminar.
“I was wanting to become a more confident woman on the water and a more confident boater myself,” said Davis, who now serves as the executive vice president of Chesapeake Bay Media. “I figured if I wanted to learn how to do it, I wasn’t the only one.”
Yeah, OK. You can't be any scarier than some of the men out there.
The Wombat has Rule 5 Monday: Rule 5 Blues ready for digital pleasure at The Other McCain.
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