Saturday, May 30, 2009

Captain, sir? not ma'am

I digress for a moment. "Captain" in the previous blog stirred another memory. In order to transport the Wanderlust, he needed a captain's license. We both took the course, after all we both needed to be fully aware of all the rules and regulations regarding the sea.
It was a very intense learning experience. As I recall there were a few other females who like me were the wives of the prospective captains. I, however, was actually taking the course. There was a lot of reading and tests leading up to the certification. We plotted courses and used a sextant and learned navigation. At some point, I was having a conversation with the instructor about what our plans were. Imagine my surprise and consternation to find out that although women could take the course, they could not be licensed. I would get some kind of certificate that said I took the course but that was all. Undaunted, I completed the course. Today one would shout from the rooftops that this was discrimination. At that point in time it was just the way things were done.

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