Make the women boater's in your life happy, yeah!!!

Boating

boatguy Ed Donlin

These few statistics are hard to ignore if you are a boating guy. First, 75% of the choice about which boat to buy is made by the women of the family! Second, 90% of the choice to get out of boating is made by women! Let me explain, you see the first statistic deals with the final choice between several models of boats. The female partner in the deal usually has the final choice in the brand, color scheme and equipment. That is a lot of power to have but it’s okay with me!The fact that it is a fishing boat had to be established earlier.

The second statistic has to do with the reason that families get out of boating. “If Mama ain’t happy, nobodies happy,” my gray haired daddy used to say! Getting woman on the water isn’t a chore because they usually like boats but they don’t like to be uncomfortable unless they are sailor, sailors! We should plan our outings with their comfort firmly planted in our brains. We should consider any tendencies to be mildly sea sick, easily sunburned or totally 'not into fishing' as well as any other problem that might turn them off to someone's favorite pastime.

If we accept these stats to be fact and I think they are correct because they come from a manufacturers organization, then why don’t those boat makers advertise to this large and powerful group? You don’t have to study their brochures very hard to realize that they are aiming at the twenty something male crowd. The glossy pages are adorned with svelte models on the boats displayed therein.

There aren’t many pictures of kids either in those brochures. Normal sized men and women along with kids and the family dog are the customers they should seek! I don’t know what Madison Avenue advertising firm puts these campaigns together but they totally ignore reality. And where are the depictions of the fun of boating? A beached boat and a picnic is a good start. Or a beautiful boat tied up along side of a nice waterfront restaurant and happy diners enjoying a sun filled outing?

These are the activities that appeal to women and kids and dogs. Although it is harder to find seclude beaches that allow dogs or open fires or beached boats. And some waterfront restaurants never allow dogs. As far as kids go I guess they’d tolerate them but you very rarely see kids in their advertisements either. Still these are the activities that women like about boating and they make a lot of important decisions.

What will happen to boating if all the women decide that the money could be better spent on other recreational activity. “Lets Go RV-ing” is a campaign aimed at families and they are stealing boaters right and left. Their brochures are full of picnics and families and fun for normal people. Why is boating missing the mark? Mostly because the industry is dominated by middle-aged white men who crossed over from the car business and we all know how the car business treats women!

So it is a good old boys network at the boat dealership just like at the car dealership. The only group more ignored by the boating industry is minorities but they are being considered in future advertising. Yeah right!

How can this threat to your boating happiness be overcome? It’s simple because we have an ally that is just waiting to relieve us of our burden and they are the waterfront restaurants. They stand ever ready to do an instant boating makeover on your female boating partner. Ask her who is the person she would most like to impress and then invite them to boat with you to a great waterfront place.

A little practice docking will really make the day because a confident skipper makes a boating day a lot more fun for everyone. Your lady will be joyously thankful and will remember the day when the yearly boating budget comes up for discussion!

Boat safe and treat the ladies right and you'll have a lot more fun! Send questions and comments to boatguiEd@aol.com.