Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

[Huron Angler]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

I took the afternoon off of work yesterday due to the gorgeous weather, called to let my girlfriend know I was on the way home to go for a boat ride(she was excited to go).

We ended putting in at a nice landing with three docks that is adjacent to a huge river ferry mocked up like an old steamboat w/ paddle wheels(it runs on two big modern inboards I assume). We've been talking about where to have our wedding reception and that three-story ferry is high on her list of places to consider. This provided a positive conversation piece as soon as we got to the landing.

Shortly after launching into the river and heading against the current we happened to see a whole family of otters frolicking on the banks of the Grand River smack dab in the middle of industrial Lansing, MI.

She was just commenting on how dirty/polluted the water looked, and I responded that if the fish survive in it then it's not as dirty as people think when we happened upon the whiskered swimmers. I interpret this to mean that an ecosystem is thriving to a certain extent.

It made the trip a memorable one and we will both be telling people this story for years whenever we hear anyone badmouth the local waterways for being too polluted(not that I recomend eating the fish 3 times a week). I was pleasantly surprised to see them since the only aquatic rodents around are usually the more drab muskrats tooling around.

The otters have a more whimsical, playful outlook and I swear one of the juveniles smiled at us before diving back into the water.

These are the kinds of things that lead our significant others to appreciate all that is boating. There would have been no way to see those otters from anywhere except a small boat powered by a Minn Kota(so as to not spook the otter clan). Also- I did not even bring my fishing pole with me on this trip.

Just something for you folks to consider- this is what worked for us

 

[fishingman220]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

Thanks guys, alot of good ideas, i think i will try to get her to go to a class ad then maybe the treasure hunt.

 

[MudSkunk]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

I love my boat. i love anything about my boat, or anything having to do with my boat. My wife on the other hand likes going out sometimes but doesnt want everything to revolve around the boat. like for instance, we are going to nags head in july and have a house on a canal with a dock and slip. my first idea is bring the boat and go fishing. i would love to have it sitting right outside the door and be able to go whenever i choose. well she doesnt want to take it, she says it will just be to much to deal with. I need some ideas to get her more involved and more excited about boating and want to go out more. All we do now is tow to the yacht club, put in, go to the sand bar, hang out all day, then back home, occasionaly ride around for no more than 30min. i am getting alittle bored with it my self, but need to find something else to do. any ideas????

let her drive the boat!! my wife doesnt like fish but she goes fishing with me because i taught her to drive the boat and control it. i taught her how to control the trolling motor with the pedals and she sits there driving it around and watching things through her binoculars while i fish. she isnt comfy driving the boat onto the trailer yet but she is getting there. just need to find something she enjoys doing with you rather than you doing something while she just sits there.

maybe get her involved in fishing. offer to handle all the bait and whatnots and all she has to do is fish. if your doing everything what is she there for?? get her involved with the boat handling itself things are a lot more fun when you have a task to do that involves the other half.

another thing is dont hammer boating on her. do boating with her and then the next weekend do something she wants to do. bring it up yourself instead of asking her what she wants to do. if you show interest in her hobbies and such she will show interest in yours when you ask.

just my thoughts and opinions. good luck.

 

[LadyFish]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

QC I appreciate that some women are just like your wife, probably most women.

I guess I was trying to make the point that even girly girls such as myself can take an interest in boating/fishing if they are taught the basics. People are quickly bored by things they do not understand. You never know, it might even become their favorite sport eventually. Its a long term fix.

Not for nothin, but there are many men that love to control the boat and everything surrounding it. Its an ego thing. Maybe it makes you feel manly or you think that this is a man's job but quite frankly, there are many very good female boat captains out there on the water, besides myself.

Anyway when you control everything, just understand that this takes the fun out of it for a good majority of women, and this is why many lose interest so quickly. They feel it's YOUR deal, not theirs.

 

[QC]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

I think we are actually in total agreement LF, and I would let Mrs. QC read this as she would probably agree with both of us . . . right after she hit me over the head

The ironic thing is that she actually ran the boat more this weekend, but it had nothing to do with me asking her to, or us doing anything else different. She just decided she wanted to. She's actually a very good captain, but frankly would usually prefer to be a passenger.

I guess my point was that my experience with a very bright, happy, strong-willed, independent, confident girly girl is that she doesn't want to do that stuff most of the time. She absolutely loves that we are a boating family. We just spent four days on the water and she never wanted to leave . . . She also talked about wanting to take longer cruises, so I will add another sexist comment. It is a woman's prerogative to change her mind.

Oh, and it is very much OUR thing

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

I've been trying to get Diane involved since day 1 with my err...OUR boat..
Funny thing is she had absolutley ZERO interest in replacing the deck, sanding her down, painting...It was only 90 plus degrees every day I was out there for 12 hours at a clip..Really I tried to get her involved, nope nothing worked....

 

[aspeck]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

My wife did not come from a boating family and had little to no interest in going boating. I had to take it slow, involve her, not get as serious about fishing as I like, give her time to swim, read a book, or whatever she wanted. I had to pack the picnic baskets, etc., but as I did that ... stopped at romantic spots, enjoyed the nature around us, and just slowed down in my "full speed ahead' boating pleasures, she began to like the boat more ... to the point that we were going to a nice lodge on a lake for our wedding anniversary and SHE INSISTED that we tow the boat along!

Slow, steady, make it interesting for HER ... she will probably come around.

 

[IVAZ]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

My wife use to hate boating. Like some already suggested, I took some of her friends with us (the annoying ones). I was real nice to all of them, pulled them on the tube and showed them the good spots on the lake. They drank beer listened to some tunes and got to see a sunset in the water. For the next week her friends kept calling her and telling her how much fun they had and how lucky she was to be able to do it every weekend.
Next weekend I suggested we do it again but, she should operate the boat incase I wanted to drink this time (I didn?t). I showed her how to operate the trim, how to take wakes and all the basics I know. I kept saying stuff like "man you?re a natural" "you got the hang of this fast". She learned how to back up the trailer the next month also.
She now plans boat trips for us and named our previously nameless boat (BEER : 30).
Man, my own story made me get teary eyed.

 

[QC]

Re: Any ideas for my wife???need suggestions

Yeah, well, hmmmmm . . . I wasn't completely honest with my post above :redface: I do know why Mrs. QC wanted to run the boat this last weekend . . . we had some friends along that had never been with us before and she wanted them to know she was good at it