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About Us
About us
An Australian and international magazine written by women for women on the water and their families.
An Australian and international magazine written by women for women on the water and their families.
Sistership Magazine is an online magazine delivering features and regular segments focused on sailing, water sports and ocean based activities. We have a strong Australian and international readership of women and men interested in reading stories from the sea written by women - and about women - on the water.
Our Team
Dr Shelley Wright
Editor
A scientist and freelance writer, Dr Shelley Wright is passionate about the marine environment and life on the water. Despite an intense fear of the ocean, Shelley has been juggling sailing with her love of horses since first stepping foot on a sailboat in 1986 on the Great Barrier Reef coast of Queensland, Australia. She currently sails an Endurance 35 with her husband Steve, a commercial captain. Shelley is the founder of the Women Who Sail Australia group and the ‘Gathering on the Bay’ annual sailing conference for women.
Heather Francis
Sustainable Sailing
Heather Francis is from Nova Scotia, Canada and has lived and worked on boats throughout the world. Since 2008 she has been living and sailing onboard Kate, a Newport 41 sloop, with her Aussie partner, Steve. She is a writer, photographer and cook who tries to live mindfully. Heather writes our Sustainable Sailing column. Follow at www.yachtkate.com or @sustainable.sailing.
Shelly Galligan
Regular Contributor
Busting medical myths each issue
A USCG 100-ton captain and a registered nurse with over 25 years of Emergency Room experience. She joyfully shares her experiences with other water lovers, preparing them to intervene effectively in offshore emergencies. Shelly is passionate about life on the water and life in general.
Jane Chevous
Barefoot Boating Blunderment
Born with salt in her veins, raised messing about in boats and has owned several. She lives aboard the sailing yacht SV Chantey with her husband Ivan (Greybeard). Currently they are cruising Costa Rica heading for a Panama Canal transit, to be nearer to their three sons and six grandchildren in England. A writer, educator and activist, Jane loves sewing, playing the accordion and getting involved in local communities as she voyages.
Valerie Poore
Flat Bottom Girl: Barge boats
Born in London, England, Valerie grew up in both north London and the west of Dorset. She moved to South Africa in 1981 but returned to Europe in 2001, which is when she began her love affair with the lovely Dutch flat-bottomed barges. She has lived on a barge in Rotterdam’s Oude Haven since then, but summers see her and her partner on the Belgian and French canals. Val teaches writing skills at the local university for a living but has written several memoirs about her waterways life. Writing is a lifelong love as well as being her work. Read more at her blog Vallypee.blogspot.com
Tanya Rabe
Dogs Who Sail
Co-founded Dogs Who Sail with her two Cocker Spaniels Maxy and Mel. What began as a space to share their own story as liveaboards has now grown into a global community of dogs on boats. Tanya devotes her life to caring for dogs, celebrating their individuality and promoting responsible dog ownership.
Connect with Tanya on Facebook and Instagram
Sonia Robinson
Contributor
A qualified RYA Offshore Yachtmaster and Australian Sailing Senior Keelboat Instructor, Sonia has devoted a large part of her career to the development of sailing with Australian Sailing, RYA, YNZ and Fiji Yachting Association.
Having owned boats throughout her life, Sonia realised through her own experience that a good Broker is a rare find. In 2017 she started EziYacht cruising and classic Yacht Brokerage. Customer service, quality marketing and an honest approach to selling sets her apart. Encouraging more women to take the step towards boat ownership is a personal goal.
Get in touch with Sonia on email
Sheridan Lathe
Contributor
Sheridan is an Australian registered veterinarian living permanently aboard her boat Chuffed, currently docked in Central America.
You can follow Sheridan’s Chuffed Adventures on YouTube
or on Facebook and Instagram
for real-time updates
“Vet Tail’s Sailing Chuffed”.
Michele Ableson
Contributor
Michele Ableson lives mainly on the east coast of Australia with her partner Scott on a 60-foot schooner called IO. She is a registered nurse, NLP practitioner, hypnotherapist, yoga teacher and author with a passion for personal growth and happiness. She is the author of two books – Doing The Happy Thing and Growing Holly. She also writes a blog called Ripples. Other stories you might enjoy include: ‘Weird Things Sailors Do’.
You can find out more at www.micheleableson.com
Jenn Harkness
Contributor
Jenn Harkness is a mental health therapist, art therapist and sailor in Seattle, WA, USA. She has a blog at Skipperjenn.com
where she writes about sailing, feminism and mental health. Her Ranger 29, Poop Deck, is her home, spirited love child and muse. Her heartfelt desire is to create more community, compassion and health in the world on water and land.
Deborah Wallace
Regular Contributor
ASPIRE | CONNECT | EMPOWER
Deborah Wallace is the founder of Sailing Womens Network Australia. Sailing Womens Network is a private group of like-minded women who enjoy and participate in inshore and offshore yacht racing, Australia and worldwide. The group was formed with the idea to encourage networking and promote participation at all sailing events around Australia and overseas. As the site has grown, we have shared inspirational stories, world sailing news, and sailing events from our shores and around the globe.
You can find Sailing Women’s Network Australia on Facebook.
Gina De Vere
Contributor
A New Zealander by birth, Gina has been sailing full time on a Gib Sea 47.2 with her husband Christian Selaries since 2005. Leaving behind a career and business consulting company in NZ, to sail the South Pacific, Papua New Guinea twice, Australia to Indonesia twice, Borneo, Thailand and Malaysia, and the South China Sea. Gina is a Life Coach and author and her work has been published in sailing magazines in Germany, USA, Australia, and NZ. Gina’s aim in life is to inspire and support women in particular, to make the ‘leap’ to a more adventurous, fulfilling life.
Erin Carey
Contributor
Hailing from the land down under, Erin and her family recently cruised the Caribbean for two years before crossing the Atlantic Ocean aboard their Moody 47 named Roam. Erin now runs her own PR and communications company called Roam Generation, helping fellow sailors and adventurers share their unique and inspiring stories.
Lyn Battle
Contributor
Lyn has lived for over 30 years on Sweers Island, in Australia’s Gulf of Carpentaria, where she runs a small fishing lodge with her husband Tex.
Lyn recently circumnavigated Sweers Island by kayak to raise funds for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Queensland. Lyn also recently mastered the Eskimo Roll, fulfilling another lifelong dream. Along with her kayak rolling coach, she hopes to make the Sweers Island Challenge a regular event, with more paddlers taking the opportunity.
Jane Jarratt
Contributor
Jane started sailing in 2007 when she and her partner Andy moved from the UK to Australia. Since then they bought a boat in St Maarten in the Caribbean and sailed it back to Sydney in 2009 and have spent the last five northern hemisphere summers sailing in the Med. To avoid any winters at all, they live in Scarborough in Queensland during the southern hemisphere summer. Jane runs the Women Who Sail the Med Facebook group and her blog The Olive Press, can be found on www.svolive.com.
Melanie Piddocke
Contributor
Melanie learnt to sail while living in Scotland in 2007. Returning to Australia some years later, she purchased a Spacesailer 22 and undertook a series of RYA courses. She now owns Lorelei, a Sparkman & Stephens 34 which she is currently refitting in preparation for an attempt at a solo westabout circumnavigation.
Viki Moore
Contributor
Viki is currently based in Lyttelton NZ, and enjoys racing and cruising her Young 88. She is on the board of Yachting New Zealand and is the President of the Little Ship Club of Canterbury. She blogs about her adventures at
Amy Alton
SisterShip Watches
Amy and David have been sailing on their boat, Starry Horizons, for four years. They document their journey on www.outchasingstars.com and on YouTube. In 2020 they will complete their circumnavigation by crossing their wake in the Caribbean.
Cherylle Stone
Contributor
Hailing from Port Stephens in New South Wales. She has spent five cruising seasons in Vanuatu on her Grainger 1250 catamaran.
Minke Lohrengel
Contributor
A different lifestyle, slow travelling, living with the elements of nature and learn from different cultures all over the world. With those ambitions Minke Lohrengel and her partner Jaap Bel set sail on their steel ketch Eastern Stream
in 2016 and they are still cruising around the world.
Minke writes articles for sailing magazines in addition to her work as HR business partner and Virtual Assistant for small companies and fellow cruisers.
You can read about the adventures aboard the Eastern Stream
at
Find more about Minke and her work at https://minkelohrengel.com/
Renee Smith
Contributor
An incomplete paraplegic, MS patient, and adaptive sailor from Sydney, Australia. Her first experience on a yacht in mid-2017 with Sailors with disABILITIES (SWD) organisation, showed the freedom sailing could offer. Now a crew volunteer with SWD, Renee takes groups of kids and adults who have a disability or disadvantage out on Sydney Harbour for a sailing experience that focuses on ability, optimism, confidence and achievement. A research scientist in plant physiology and keen photographer, she's also part of SWD’s racing team, and is working towards offshore racing.
Linda Frylink Anderson
Contributor
Linda set sail to circumnavigate the world with husband Bill aboard a boat built in their backyard. Linda published her first memoir ‘Sailing in my Sarong, Around the World’ illustrated with her original art in 2010. This was followed by a second book ‘Salvage in my Sarong, The Mediterranean dream in a rescued boat'.
Linda still likes to wear sarongs and loves sharing her passion for art and travel, encouraging others to live their own dreams. These days she escapes the world to her bush studio in northern NSW and heads off to sea when she hears the call of the ocean.
Books - www.valiam.com.au
Connect with Linda on Facebook or Email
Interested in being a contributor?
Share your stories with our readers
We regularly publish reader stories and photographs. If you'd love to see your images or article on the pages of our magazine get in touch today!
Send your stories, photographs or ideas to
Please take a look at our Contributor Guidelines
for more info.
See your story and photographs published in SisterShip Magazine, contact us today.
We believe that everyone has something of value to contribute and a big part of Sistership Magazine is sharing our readers stories.
We regularly accept reader stories and photographs for publication. Before submitting we recommend you take look through our magazine, noting our style and content.
When you submit an article to us, you are agreeing to the guidelines and Contributor Terms and Conditions. You can read our abbreviated Contributor Guildline
page here or download the full Contributor Terms and Conditions.
We consider the following for publication:
- Practical stories with tips and advice to share for life on the water
- Stories of personal achievement on the water big and small
- Photo stories (Collections of images around a central theme)
- Cruising artist profiles
Unique content and diverse views
Our magazine stands alone as a voice for women on the water. A place to share your passion for the ocean with like-minded people.
Be Inspired. Be encouraged. Be informed.
We seek to be inspiring, informative and encouraging of all women on the water across all water sports and past-times through sharing stories, ideas, thoughts, hopes and dreams, providing advice, promoting safety and sharing knowledge.
Women-Centred
We're focused on telling the stories of women on the water from their own unique and diverse perspectives.
Connection and Belonging
Sistership Magazine readers belong to a special group of people committed to supporting women who sail and women on the water. We're focused on building a place of belonging for all women on the water where women feel encouraged, supported and inspired.
“Wonderful! Can’t put it down! You are inspiring me to new vistas and voyages.”
Ruth Boydell
“Another wonderful contribution by and for our wonderful sailing community. So much info!!”
Celia Davey
