There’s something mythic about getting on a ferryboat and being transported to a new destination, even one that takes less than half an hour to get there, such as at the Davis Park Ferry, which carries local adventurers from 80 Brightwood Street in Patchogue to the Davis Park Marina, one of the largest marinas on Fire Island. Traveling by ferry becomes a way to leave your ordinary life behind and set sail for a place where adventure awaits, even if just for a day.

When one thinks of female archetypes associated with the sea, mermaids or sirens—ostensibly imaginary beings—might come to mind, but not a woman captain, which very much exists, but that’s something that the crew of the Davis Park Ferry is on board with changing.

There happens to be a total of 10 female captains who currently work on the Davis Park Ferry (alongside six males) for this milestone year of the 75th anniversary of the Sherman family owning and running this local treasure. It is a beloved part of the summer months in Patchogue. Stephanie Sherman and her brother-in-law, Matthew Sherman, are the co-owners with Stephanie’s two daughters (who are captains) and her grandchildren, also helping there. Four generations of Shermans have worked on the Davis Park Ferry for a quarter of a century.

“Way back in the early ‘80s, I was the first one [female captain] on the bay,” said Stephanie Sherman, so all the female captains on the Great South Bay are following in her legacy. “I’m glad they’re encouraged to do it.”

To become a captain, many of the women started out at just 16 years old as deckhands, such as Sherman’s granddaughter, Kaythé Kaller, is doing now, and then worked their way up through a challenging course offered by the Davis Park Ferry, aptly titled the “Sea Experience.” This is where those following in Sherman’s footsteps earn their sea legs through a full 365 days of sea time.

The fact that there are so many female captains trained and working at this ferry wasn’t an intentional attempt to try to even the playing field.

“It happened organically,” explained Sherman.

Her daughters and fellow captains, Emily Cordell, 32, and Amelia Kummer, 42, who conduct the interviews for potential candidates, concurred. One of the youngest captains there, Emma Kirschenheiter, 19, took her captain’s test as soon as she could, at 18. Many of the captains are in their 20s and several work as teachers during the school year, taking this as a fun and rewarding summer job.

Kummer noted that even in 2022, there is still some sexism regarding female captains, even if it’s unintentional.

“My mom was one of the first [female captains] and my good friend who’s my age, became a female captain at 19, back when it was not so common, so I like seeing this. The girls have more drive.” She added, “The girls come in and they’re like, we have something to prove, and they don’t, but we do have more female captains than male captains.”

The daughter of the first female captain on the bay, whose mother started more than 40 years ago, stated that even today when some men see all these female captains, they ask, “When is the captain going to come out? Who’s running this boat?” And how do they feel when they find out the ship is being steered by a team of capable women? “A lot of times, they don’t believe it.”

Mary-Kate Haslbauer is a 28-year-old eighth-grade teacher who works summers as a captain and still gets asked if she’s old enough to navigate the ship. “I started working here when I was 16, as a deckhand on the boat, and then when I turned 20, Stephanie’s husband [Charles Sherman, who died in 2020], Emily and Amelia’s dad, he called me over the winter and said, ‘I need you to go get your license.’ So, I took the course and I’m very glad that I did, because it’s a great summer job,” explained Haslbauer.

Another young captain, Juliana Colon, 18, interjected, stating, “I’m just very supportive of this movement of female empowerment. If it was common in the older generation, then it wouldn’t be such a surprise when you see a female running the boat.”

The member of the cohort known as Generation Z informed that even young men are surprised to see a woman in a position of power on a ship. Counterintuitively, she said, “There’s a lot of skepticism from the younger guys. I feel like the older guys are almost more supportive a lot of the time. They’re like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. We’ve got a lady running the boat.’”

“A lot of people take pictures of us,” added fellow female captain, Jordan Echevarria, 22. “A lot of the older ladies are like, ‘Oh that’s so cool. I wish I did that when I was younger. Can I take a picture with you or of you?’”

While this attention can make them feel a bit self-conscious and like an anachronism, the crew understands that this is the next step in normalizing women as captains, in all areas of their lives, with older women seeing them as aspirational.

Perhaps, thanks to the “sea change” brought about by women such as the female captains working at the Davis Park Ferry—following in the lineage of trailblazer, Stephanie Sherman—women in the next generation, and beyond, will act as leaders in all facets of life, alongside their male counterparts, and no one will bat an eye. Picture that!

For more information visit davispark.org.