Romance at Sea: Falling in Love with Your Husband’s Boat

By Lilli Zaloumis –

Historically, boating has been a man’s sport. While the fresh sea air and the sound of the waves is enjoyed by any gender, the discipline it takes to captain one’s own vessel and the labor it takes to maintain it — washing, painting, scraping, patching, and more — has not been appealing to most women. We much prefer the warm sun and sand of a beach to the slippery, rocking deck of a boat.

However, women who love their husbands very much would do well to show an interest in his boating hobby. According to the Wall Street Journal, research into romance has shown that couples who share hobbies become noticeably happier and are much more likely to retain the gooey feelings of the honeymoon phase well into their golden years. That’s why it is best for wives of boating husbands to buck up, buy a pair of boat shoes, and start falling in love with your husband’s favorite hobby.

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Read About Boating Women

One of the easiest and most effective ways of developing an interest in a new hobby is to read about it, but a manual on boating certainly won’t give you an itch to get out on the water. Instead, you can look into adventure stories, real or fictional, that take place on and around boats.

Of course, “Treasure Island” and “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” might be too fantastical to spark an interest in the real hobby. In particular, you may want to explore literature that focuses on female boaters. Throughout history, there have been plenty of unsung women who have braved the dangers of the sea to pursue a boating lifestyle, and you may draw inspiration from their stories as you embark on your new romance. Here are a few of the top books about boating women:

  • “First Lady” by Kay Cottee. The first woman to sail solo and nonstop around the world, Cottee carved a path through the waves for solo female boaters. Her book is inspirational and funny; you’ll only be able to put it down when you climb aboard a vessel of your own.
  • “Taking on the World” by Ellen MacArthur. Forget the fact that she’s female — MacArthur broke the world record for fastest solo circumnavigation, meaning she is one of the globe’s best sailors, period. Her desire to push herself in any situation is utterly rousing.
  • “True Spirit” by Jessica Watson. At just 16 years old, Watson sailed the world alone and unassisted on her very own vessel, “Pink Lady.” Despite her young age, Watson’s writing betrays complete maturity, and her unwavering love of the sport is deeply moving.

Romance at Sea Falling in Love with Your Husband’s Boat 2Invest in a Boat Together

If your partner has a vessel already, undoubtedly he views the craft as “his boat,” which you are welcome aboard at any time. However, for any hope of cultivating a shared hobby, you two must share the boat, financially and emotionally. This means it is time for your husband to sell his older boat and buy another with you.

Just like with any big purchase, buying a boat as a couple takes patience and compromise. You must balance your desires with your husbands’. For example, you may absolutely require a well-appointed cockpit, with serving table, refrigerator, wet bar — the works; however, your husband may only care about durability and openness to fishing, and have little interest in luxury features like toilets and storage. Somehow, you must take every desire into account and purchase a vessel that suits everyone’s needs adequately. Only then will both of you be interested in completing the final item on this list.

Spend Time on the Boat

This is certainly the most difficult task of all: You must put time into appreciating the boat, the water, and your husband as a complete package. At first, it may be painful to spend hours learning nautical jargon and training for your boating license. You may abhor the hours you spend off-land, drifting with no end in sight.

However, one day, that will change: You and your husband will spend such a marvelous day together on the boat — drinking wine, catching fish, exploring the waters — that you will look forward to another seafaring adventure. Eventually, with enough time and effort, you will come to love those lazy days on your boat with your love.

 

Lilli Zaloumis is a lifelong reader who began writing blogs and articles after the last of her three kidlets went off to college. Once in staunch opposition to her husband’s frivolous boating hobby, she is now planning a trip across the Pacific to Fiji, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia.

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Romance at Sea: Falling in Love with Your Husband’s Boat
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