Welcome, Collen.
The women on site do tend to be a little more sporadic in attendence than the males. They've probably got actual lives or something that interferes with their staying abreast of the latest in bottom
paint.
The girls issue was just discussed here recently and, short of sending them done to the cryogenic storage facility, no real solutions were revealed. The addition of boys requires a delicate balance; sort of like the cookbook directions that tell you to boil the water first and you expedited things by adding the ingrediants and then brought to boil. I would recommend finding suitable boys, take them sailing and reasonably trained, and then expose them to the girls. At that point, they will either become useless to you or perhaps, show more interest in sailing than in the girls. If the latter, the girls may decide that all boys are worthless and swear them off. Not an all bad outcome, eh? Either way, keep the boys while letting the girls go to the mall. Proper foredeck performance by the boys can be rewarded by the never fails feeding method or, perhaps, limited exposure to aforementioned girls if they ever return from the mall. No matter, you've got crew!
Ah, the three year old! You've got one to mold. Various lengths of 3-strand
line are an entirely appropriate Christmas gift-every year! Every kid should be able to make an eye splice by the time they go to school. That's the problem with American education, the parents aren't sending the kids to school with a grasp of the fundamentals. As time goes on, and thoughts turn to college expenses, you can get him splicing 2 in 1
line and he will not be for want.
I am lucky also in that my wife loves to sail. She says that she loves to garden also, but I have noticed that the gardening does not have the cathartic effect that sailing does. I find it useful to have an activity that she never says no to, enjoys immensely, and takes her mind off what I should actually be doing with the time instead. Enjoy!