On International Women’s Day (March 8), The American Sailing Association energized women to set sail with the announcement of its new crusade and education campaign called “Women Wake Up Zone.”

“When people hear sailing, they often think of stuffy, 60-year-old men behind the wheel while women watch, but we are leading the diversity of our industry with this education campaign, and it starts with more women sailors,” says Cindy Shabes, president of the American Sailing Association. “With this education campaign, we want to erase the stereotypes and eliminate the fear some women have that sailing is too expensive and physically demanding. As we see more women take the wheel and thrive on our waterways, we want others to follow in their wake!”

Greg Martin is the owner and head instructor of Sail Hawaii. Captain Greg has been sailing since he was a kid growing up in San Diego and he further refined his sailing skills at the US Naval Academy. After the Navy, he became a middle school math and science teacher in Okinawa and it was only natural that his passion for sailing and teaching would come together when he first started teaching ASA courses in Japan with Yoh Aoki. In 2013 Captain Greg bought his Pearson Alberg 35 “Gemini” in California, intending to sail back to Japan, but stopped in Hawaii along the way and fell in love with the Aloha life.

It’s fun practicing your crew overboard drills as you recover trash on the water. But to break the vicious cycle of plastic pollution in the water we must prevent it from getting to the ocean in the first place.