No people of color...
I notice that there are no people of color on 99% of these sailing sites/mags/etc. I say 99% because the very few I see are usally 1 crew member, or some local native on some island and they have him/her in the shot. Whats up with that? I remember seeing some write up on the old Sailnet site some of the articules were written by a woman of color who traveled around the South Pacific with her Cacausian (sp) hubby and kids. Cute family. Do not know what happened to them. I think he or they were from France. Before I started sailing there was a big time brain surgen here in the states I saw on some documentary who was Black and was a sailor. They had some shots of him on his boat. Then there is the mixed guy from South Africa, who did a around the world race, built his own boat and wrote a book, which was given some award. Oh Circumnavigator Neal Petersen that is is name. If any one cares his website is http://www.no-barriers.com/
I chatted with him a bit on http://sailfar.net once. Seems like a nice guy.
Anyway I'm not really into the "race" thing, but I thought I'd just drop that in here, in case some who is interested happens by one day. It is though a reality in this world and more so here in the states! Saddly we all can not be just people. WTF?
Everyone that I have met who is into sailing has been nice, open and helpful to me. I have even picked up an unexpected mentor. Someone I met on line, we have the same boat and a made in Japan wife. I have gotten alot of helpful info from him out of the kindness of his heart. Maybe if I was dealing more with the money bag folks I would notice more "racial" distance, but for the most part sailors I met are good folks. Maybe the boats and the water put us all on the same spiritual level.
I notice that there are no people of color on 99% of these sailing sites/mags/etc. I say 99% because the very few I see are usally 1 crew member, or some local native on some island and they have him/her in the shot. Whats up with that? I remember seeing some write up on the old Sailnet site some of the articules were written by a woman of color who traveled around the South Pacific with her Cacausian (sp) hubby and kids. Cute family. Do not know what happened to them. I think he or they were from France. Before I started sailing there was a big time brain surgen here in the states I saw on some documentary who was Black and was a sailor. They had some shots of him on his boat. Then there is the mixed guy from South Africa, who did a around the world race, built his own boat and wrote a book, which was given some award. Oh Circumnavigator Neal Petersen that is is name. If any one cares his website is http://www.no-barriers.com/
I chatted with him a bit on http://sailfar.net once. Seems like a nice guy.
Anyway I'm not really into the "race" thing, but I thought I'd just drop that in here, in case some who is interested happens by one day. It is though a reality in this world and more so here in the states! Saddly we all can not be just people. WTF?
Everyone that I have met who is into sailing has been nice, open and helpful to me. I have even picked up an unexpected mentor. Someone I met on line, we have the same boat and a made in Japan wife. I have gotten alot of helpful info from him out of the kindness of his heart. Maybe if I was dealing more with the money bag folks I would notice more "racial" distance, but for the most part sailors I met are good folks. Maybe the boats and the water put us all on the same spiritual level.
posted by Zen @ 9:47 PM
3 Comments:
At 7:34 AM,
Tillerman said…
You'r right that the vast majority of sailors are white. All sorts of historic and cultural reasons for that I am sure. But it's changing.
At 7:12 PM,
David Royall said…
As I sail around I notice the same thing. But there are a few of us out here. Morgan Freeman has a sailboat. Then there is a group from the U.S. who hold a Black Boater's Summit in the Virgin islands every August. They have a good turn-out each year. I will find their email info and beam it your way. I once asked a Bahamian dockmaster, if many black's skippered sailboats to the Bahamas. He said, "No, American Blacks come here aboard cruise ships, wearing designer jeans." It takes a certain 'spirit of adventure' to sail away from shore. It is a small percentage of people, of any race, who embrace that spirit.
At 2:04 PM,
Anonymous said…
You may wonder, but never doubt, that you are being read. You have so many irons in the fire that it is odd that no one actually writes on one of your interests. I know I read your entire blog each month or so, mostly to follow what you're doing. I am curious about the I/29 ad you sent. It looks like something from a 60's brouchure. Is it honto?
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