I’ve written previously about the steep wave that women navigate to create respected, lucrative, and sustainable careers in seafaring roles, particularly as boat captains. Readers may remember being introduced to four women who shared their experiences as a cohort of mutually supportive captains in a male-dominated field.
Marina Maze is one such role model who’d recently acquired her license. Nine months later, you’ll now find Maze captaining aboard a woman-owned and operated business in Moss Landing named Monterey Bay Eco Tours, skillfully maneuvering an electric 37-foot catamaran that tours the Elkhorn Slough. I caught up with Monterey Bay Eco Tours owner, Wendy Kitchell, a captain in her own right who holds a 500 ton masters license.
Kitchell, who started in the maritime industry when she was 18 as a new transplant to Key West, Florida, landed a gig on a charter boat with her brother Joe and noticed an immediate “intuitive feel” in her role in spite of never having worked on boats previously. “We were taking people out on snorkeling tours to the third largest coral reef in the world off the Florida Keys,” says Kitchell. She continues, ‘I started working on other boats and doing more offshore sailing and adventuring. I got my 100 ton master’s at the age of 22 as by then I’d decided I didn’t want to return to conventional schooling and wanted to make a career on the water. I went on to drive Tall ships, private yachts and racing sailboats.’