Brett and Belle you are two peas in a pod. Your writing style is very similar, you are in tune with each other. Good for you that both of you participate here.
My wife, the admiral is a boating woman. She knows I am on here and has not expressed any desire to partake, her choice.
We should not judge the reason why there are not more woman on the forum any more than why the other 3/4 of men boaters are not on the forum, it is their personal choice.
We are like peas in a pod, very seldom apart and most married couples cannot fathom the percentage of our time we spend together. I think too we become more and more alike as the years pass.
You're right about why anyone doesn't partake. We do know specifically why several chose to leave, primarily because we begged them not to go. Of course, we have hundreds of men who have left and I'm sure they have many different reasons.
One thing I've found is that whether it's a business or it's a forum, every place has a culture. It was likely established long ago and very difficult to change. The Culture of TF is just that way, with it's good and it's bad. Others leave, we choose to stay and live with those parts we don't especially like. If we wanted to have a forum with a different culture, we'd have to do as we did in business, start it ourselves. Not about to undertake such a project which would likely be doomed to failure anyway.
We're not the primary demographic here. We're younger and we like to go faster. Although younger fading as I now turn 51 in less than a week. So she's younger. What we are is "Cruisers" and we do more of that than nearly anyone here. Since May 15 nearly 15000 nm and 600 hours. Oddly, the same owners of this forum own "Cruisers Forum" and while the sailboaters there think it's a sailing forum, my wife once did a poll which quickly refuted that. However, we do not feel as comfortable there as we do here. Haven't been there in ages but did just sign in to see what is going on. Just in the past were too many sailors deriding all power boats plus too many promoting their schemes of law breaking whether tax and encouraging people with zero experience just to buy a $100 sailboat and start their circumnavigation, then defending the parents who almost killed their child.
Oh and while I post on Yacht Forum (Belle hasn't for years as to my knowledge only one active female there), there sure isn't much boating or cruising discussed there.
The fact is, for better or worse, this forum fits our interests the best of any we've found. Do we like everything here? Of course not, but then everyone doesn't like us either.
The culture here isn't going to change, but then neither am I nor is my wife. I'm sad over valued friends who left, but ultimately their choice and right. There are times we've been tempted but then times we're tempted to leave Florida or leave the US or any number of other things. Ultimately, we each choose for ourselves. One thing too is that each of us on this site only can really participate in a small part of it. Ask me how to fix an issue on a 120 hp Lehman and I'll send you elsewhere, but ask me about the Loop or marinas in SC I'll speak up. Ask my wife about the best ways of making coffee and she'll hide but ask her about boat handling and she'll be on topic. Ask her about sewing and she'll send you to a seamstress but ask her about bikini's and she knows the topic.
This is a place we all come to discuss certain things. It's not the place for all topics and it's not our life. We all have family and friends for that. We have aspects of life that are not for here. If TF is one's only socialization, I feel badly for them and encourage they look for other in their daily lives, but if TF is a place that adds a little to their day here and there, then that's great. As long as TF fits that description for us, we'll keep coming. When it doesn't, we won't.