Women of Water
International Delivery Captain,
Charlotte Caroll By Chelsea Co
How long have you been a delivery skipper and what licenses and certifications do you hold? I’ve been a skipper for over three years. I hold a USCG 100 Ton Masters Inland and 100 Ton Mate Near Coastal, RYA Yachtmaster 200 Ton Offshore, and PADI Open Water Instructor. How did you get into sailing? I first learned how to sail when I was young on small dinghies at summer camp. But it was never anything serious or consistent, even though I always enjoyed it. Then, I took a gap year before going to college and joined a program called Seamester, through Global Expeditions Group (GXG). I lived aboard a 100-foot schooner that sailed throughout the Caribbean, parts of Central America, and briefly in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). That was my first experience of big boat sailing and living on a boat. It was the first time I thought that I might really want to do this. How did you become a delivery skipper? I was a scuba instructor for a summer teen program within GXG. Living on a sailboat with the students, I found that I really liked it, and I could see myself doing this as a career. With advice from GXG, I pursued my captain’s license at United Kingdom Sailing Academy on the Isle of Wight. From there, I went back to the BVI to continue to work for GXG as a captain on one of their sailboats. For my first job as a skipper, I had five or so deliveries under my belt as crew and a few more as a first mate, when a captain that I had worked with before offered me a job as a skipper. What did you do before this? I did a collection of random seasonal jobs. I worked as a gardener in Maine.
##Photo by Chelsea Co
I worked on a ranch in Wyoming. I became a scuba instructor in Thailand and got a job teaching in the BVI, which was actually what led to me pursuing my captain’s license. How is it working as a female skipper in a male-dominated field? I’ve enjoyed it because I think it forced me to stand my ground which can be helpful for other life situations. I will say that it’s been
cool to have come across plenty of other women with much more experience than I have. I definitely think it’s becoming more and more accepted to be working with women. There have been times when it has been assumed that I’m not the captain or that I don’t know what I’m doing; or I’ve seen men being treated differently than I have, just because I’m a female. Experiences like these have taught me to not take things personally. SpinSheet.com August 2022 35