Sea Ray, MarineMax aim to get more women on the water

MIAMI — Financial expert Suze Orman was on hand at the Miami International Boat Show to help Sea Ray Boats and Marine Max promote a national initiative to get more women into boating, according to the companies.

At the event, Orman took delivery of a new Sea Ray 280 Sundeck from MarineMax and spoke about women and boating before sitting down to sign copies of her best-selling book, “Women & Money.”

As part of Orman’s ownership experience, she will be automatically enrolled in Women on Water, a program designed by MarineMax more than 10 years ago to build confidence when commanding a vessel and to foster camaraderie among women in the boating community.

“Ever since I moved to Florida, it has always been a dream of mine to wake up at sunrise, make a big mug of coffee, and head out on my boat to welcome the day with the dolphins,” Orman said prior to the Miami event. “That is what I call perfection.”

Orman will share her experiences aboard her Sea Ray on Facebook and Twitter, according to Sea Ray, as well as through her “Keeping Afloat Financial Tips,” which will be shot from the deck of her boat and posted on www.suzeorman.com.

“We couldn’t ask for a better boating friend,” Rob Noyes, vice president of marketing for Sea Ray, said in a release. “Suze’s excitement and encouragement, and her desire to command her own boat, are a shining example to boaters everywhere, both male and female.”

Woman on Water courses are small group sessions that run from four to five hours and are split into two parts: a classroom section covering boat parts and terminology, knot tying, rules of the road, navigation, boating safety, and emergency procedures; and a water section covering hands-on boat operation, docking practice, anchoring, line handling, and VHF radio operation. The courses are generally organized by skill level and type of boat engine.

“For women such as myself that want to master being on the water in their own boat, there is no greater program than Women on Water,” Orman said in the release. “Women have camaraderie among themselves that they never let anyone sink. We have a tendency to become each other’s life preservers. This program brings women together in a way to make us stronger as a group, as well as to become stronger in our own lives, as we dive deep into our unlimited possibilities of power that keep us afloat.”

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