Tya
"Tya" is both a term for a woman who is legally a man and the society of such women.
The West is unique in that discrimination agaisnt women is somewhat common. This ranges from "sperate but equal" restrictions that apply to acceptable roles for both men and women through to being treated as second class citizens. Nearly universal is a belief that women should not be sailors, because the Storm Mothers who rule the spirit courts of the West will not accept them and wil punish their ships (should not is not cannot).
By formally renouncing their rights and protections as women, drinking a sterilising concotion and visibly marking themselves with tattos one can join the Tya, who are legally men (and socialy accepted as such through most of the West). While many are sailors on the Tya's own fleet of ships they can also be found in any male dominated profession, or as sailors on other vessels. The Storm Mothers have publically accepted Tya on many ocassions so for others not to do so is risky. As a group they are conservative, and view mortal women attempting to step outside their accepted roles without becoming Tya as greedy and disrespectful, yes the treatment of women in the West is a problem but it is a problem the Tya have solved to their own satisfaction.