CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – In Charleston’s storied sailing scene, tradition runs deep and superstitions linger, but two women captains are navigating change, challenging old norms and making space for the next generation.
Sailing has always included its fair share of lore: bananas are bad luck, so are rabbits and so are women. But captains Jennifer Lamar and Janet Ellis with Sundog Sailing are taking on the superstitions and the doubt.
“To be the only women-owned, women-operated sailing charter here in Charleston, I love it,” Lamar says. “I want to see more ladies out on the water.”
Both women fell in love with sailing early, captured by the wind, the water and time with family.
“I could have all the time in the world with my dad,” Lamar says. “It was not just the physics or the sailing or the wind and all that, that was fascinating, but just the time that you spend with your crew.”
With the guidance of a mentor, the two pursued their captain’s licenses. Earning it meant hours on the water, exams and determination. A decade later, Lamar and Ellis say they’re part of a small but hopefully growing group of women commercial sailing captains in Charleston.
“It is rare and it’s a privilege,” Ellis says. “I’m really grateful that we managed to have our own boat so we didn’t have to go through all the hoops and obstacles that so many women are going through right now with hiring.”
They say in the industry, who you know often matters more than what’s on your resume, and they’re seeing women work twice as hard to get half as far.
“They’ll be hired as a deckhand and then they’ll get their captain’s license and [a company] will be like, ‘Oh, really? You have your license?’ But they won’t get that promotion,” Ellis said.
Whether it’s because of stereotypes about strength or demeanor, they say tradition can still hang heavy in the Charleston Harbor.
“There are at least two yacht clubs that still don’t allow women [to be] full members,” Ellis says
The co-captains see value in having women lead, however.
“With finesse and nuance, you don’t have to be stronger, you can be smarter,” Lamar says.
They’re now hoping to inspire the next generation and reinvent what it looks like to be a captain.
“We had just a young lady on the boat yesterday, and she had two older brothers,” Lamar says. “The little sister was the one that came up to me and asked, ‘Could she drive?’ It wasn’t the little brother.”
Lamar and Ellis want the next wave of captains, women or otherwise, to focus on respect for people and the planet.
“The interesting ecosystems and nature and it’s just so unique here. It’s so beautiful,” Ellis says. “With sea islands and the rivers and the marsh and the harbor, the ocean. It’s just so dynamic.”
Their goal is to show that skill, not gender, not luck and not superstition, should guide the way.
“Do it for yourself, for your spirit, for other people to see you accomplishing it,” Ellis says. “Definitely don’t give up. It’s worth it. It’s just magic.”
Copyright 2025 WCSC. All rights reserved.