CAL MARITIME 2012 WOMEN LEADERS IN MARITIME FEBRUARY 3 – 4, 2012 Hosted by California Maritime Academy 200 Maritime Academy Drive, Vallejo CA, 94590
Keynote Speaker Captain Deborah Dempsey Author, The Captain’s a Woman
Captain Deborah Dempsey has salt water in her veins and is definitely more comfortable afloat than ashore. She was among the first women to attend and graduate from a state maritime academy. A 1976 graduate of Maine Maritime Academy, she was one of the first women to serve as Commanding Officer of a cargo ship on international waters. She writes about her experiences working in a traditionally male environment in her book The Captain's a Woman, which she cowrote with Joanne Foster. Debbie comes from community sailing programs on the mouth of the Connecticut River. She is a lifelong professional mariner whose nontraditional career has been documented in film, books, and in numerous articles. Debbie has also received numerous awards. She now works as a pilot on the notorious Columbia River Bar. Her passion lies in helping at the Community Boating Center, a non-profit she helped found in 2006 in Bellingham, Washington.
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