Maritime jobs on tall ships are drawing more women and others seeking employment in non-traditional jobs

At 14, and on a family sailing trip aboard a windjammer in Maine, Emma Hathaway became infatuated with sailing and the people who make up its community.

For the next two years, Hathaway went back to Maine from her Lake Tahoe home to work summer sailing jobs.  At 15, she was the assistant cook aboard a schooner.  At 17, she was as a deckhand sailing from Hawaii to Canada.  She worked her way up, serving as an engineer, bosun, then third, second and first mate.

Now 32, and captain of the Lady Washington, a historical replica tall ship that sails to ports along the West Coast, she has found a career that combines her love of nature and adventure with education.

“I like the people I hang around with,” Hathaway said Thursday, Jan. 4, while aboard her ship docked at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor – the ship is visiting Orange County through Jan. 28. “You live in a close-knit community and because of the tight living conditions and long working hours, you develop deep relationships. The craftsmanship, seamanship and working with your hands outside are all things that are home to me.”

Hathaway is among a small, but growing, number of women who are seeking jobs in the maritime field aboard tall ships.

While data from the Seafarer Collective, a nonprofit maritime organization, recorded only 2 percent of women working in the commercial maritime field, about 15 percent to 20 percent of the 150 tall ships that are operated by nonprofit groups and national park services around the country are commanded by women.

These ships focus on teaching maritime history, provide public sailing opportunities and perform environmental and scientific research.

“Tall ships are more progressive than other maritime careers,” Hathaway said. “We work a lot in education that is more female-dominant. The perception is out there that people are equally good and gender doesn’t have a lot to do with what you can do.”

Jonathan Kabak, board member of Tall Ships America and a 30-year captain of tall ships in Rhode Island, said: “There is a new class of women taking leadership roles. Now, more than ever, while they recognize the challenges, they are empowered to recognize they are capable of the command just like anyone else.”

The Lady Washington is one of three brigs – a ship with two square-rigged masts – operating in the United States.

Launched in 1989, The Lady Washington is a replica of the actual ship of that name that served in the Revolutionary War. After a major refit to prepare her for a trading voyage around Cape Horn, the Lady Washington helped opened the black pearl and sandalwood trade in the late 1700s between Hawaii and Asia.

The rich history of “The Lady” intrigued Hathaway and she was excited to take command on Dec. 1 – soon after she sailed it into the Newport Harbor.

But even as captain, she said she still feels some pressure to show she can succeed as a woman leading the ship.

Her first mate, Kelly Greenwood, 28, sees it too. “Odds are against you as you walk on board,” she said. “Nobody assumes you are the captain.”

Greenwood has been on the Lady Washington since October when the ship left Grays Harbor, its home port in Washington.

Like, Hathaway, Greenwood said she craved a job where she could work outdoors. After graduating from St. Lawrence University in New York where she studied English and environmental studies, she found a job on tall ships.

“I got a job as a deckhand and never looked back,” she said – this is her first contract as first mate and she also has her sights on earning a captains license and running her own ship.

As captain, Hathaway is responsible for her crew’s safety and for the ship’s safe passage.  Hathaway sleeps little when the ship is underway, monitoring every shift change, ship maneuver and weather blip. Even when the ship is docked, it requires her constant vigilance.

“There are lots of safety things always being checked,” she said. “That brings an extra level of responsibility and stress.”

But that stress melts away during a sail on the high seas when the motors are shut off and the crew is working the sails, she said.

“It’s magical being able to remove yourself from society,” Hathaway said. “The peace you have being away from shore. You take a total mental break from the world. Your’re very contained aboard the ship.”

Want to see The Lady Washington?

The replica tall ship is docked at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor and will sail on Saturday, Jan. 13. Information: 949-496-2274 or oceaninstitute.org.

The ship will be docked at the Newport Sea Base from Jan. 18 to Jan. 28.