It is now the turn of the third type of sailing woman: the dependable (after the Woman Who Never Has to Ask and the Mistress of the House).She has been boating all her life. She executes perfectly everything she is told. If it has to go for 180° rest assured that it will not deviate one degree. If you have to give a coat of terzaroli, don’t confuse matafioni with gallocce. If the mainsail needs to be lowered be assured that he will bend it over the boom as you might do. The reliable knows how to do a speech, a bowline, a plan or a flag but it will be you or having to tell her which one to run on a bollard. He usually never takes initiative, and does not dare to approach the chart except to pass the compass. Do not confuse it with your second. And if she should cast a line badly or caulk a sheet too lightly, don’t mortify her, because she really knows how to do things, and she’s proud of it. It happens to everyone to make mistakes. Her tendency to do nothing more than what she is told does not rule out the possibility that she may even be able to chart a course or realize on her own that the jib needs to be lowered, but she will not open her mouth for fear of talking nonsense. Reassure her, and if you find that taking initiatives really does not interest her, you will still have a valuable “hub” on board.
