Even Keels Cruising Club Inc (club website example only)
Well to cut a long story short Grant found he loved the wide open and wild places that sailing offered (not a surprise given his land based travel). He then wanted to buy a larger boat which I was reluctant to do given my lack of experience and our work commitments. Give Grant his dues, when faced with a problem he is probably the best problem solver I know. He quickly came up with the idea of starting a club to share the cost of ownership and fit in with our time constraints. He can be very persuasive and soon had convinced eight other sailing couples to join in and pool their money. This was the start of the Melbourne Cruising Yacht Club Inc (MCYC).
Most members of MCYC were inexperienced when it came to ocean sailing and big boat handling so the club employed the help of a Yachtmaster to train us in boat handling skills. This was a great way to learn with confidence how to berth a 39 foot vessel in a marina. We also organized some club training, sailing from Western Port Bay around to Port Phillip Bay as an overnight passage. This was the first time I had sailed at night but having eight people on board gave me the confidence I needed to get in and give it a go. I have never looked back.
Above: Departing Refuge Cove, bound for Eden, after the storm
Below: Rounding Gabo Island while the rest of the crew sleeps
MCYC’s first club cruise was from Melbourne to Brisbane with a number of crew changes along the way. Initially only three guys were going to take the boat from Melbourne to Eden but I decided there was never going to be a better time for me to sail Bass Strait. I told Grant I wanted to go with him and the others. Although he had his reservations about me going he kept them to himself and was very supportive of my wishes. Afterwards I learned he was worried that the trip might scare me and that it might prevent me from ever going sailing again. My thoughts were I would never feel so safe again than with three able bodied men on board. I was more scared about trying it one day with just Grant, so might as well give it a go now.
So my first ocean passage was from Melbourne to Eden via Bass Strait. The forecast was OK but as I know now forecasts are often wrong and the 25 knot SW change overnight turned into 40 knots gusting 55 off Wilsons Promontory at dawn.
The conditions were trying and yes at times I felt uncomfortable but I never doubted the ability of the boat or her crew. I survived and look back on that cruise as my initiation to ocean sailing and it was such an adventure.
Grant and I continued this cruise all the way to Brisbane with crew changes along the way. We had the boat to ourselves for a week (Exclusive Access time) in Pittwater on the way up and had a truly perfect holiday.
So what do I love most about sailing? It has to be the wonderful people you meet
along the way. Gone are those barriers that build up from living in the cities and
what you find are the most interesting, genuine and friendly people that I have ever
met. There are also the endless challenges you face and the sense of accomplishment
when you come through everything mother-
I have clocked up over 10,000 sea miles on the east coast of Australia between Melbourne
and Cairns plus Tasmania and New Caledonia. The majority of these miles have been
just Grant and I. We have never felt the need to enlist the assistance of crew and
have managed long passages with sharing the watches. I have always enjoyed night
passages and have a preference for the graveyard shift between midnight and 3:00am.
It is difficult to describe the feeling of isolation yet oneness which you experience
out under the star-
For thirteen years I worked for Federal-
When I met Grant in 1995 my life changed for ever and it was time to make some difficult life choices. My career was full on and required extensive overseas travel which took me away far too frequently. So in 1997, the year we married, I decided to follow a different career path and took on IT Project Management, taking advantage of the booming Y2K opportunities. This eventually led to me join Synergy Software, an IBM business partner, as a senior consultant. The more I consulted with companies the more I saw where my business improvement skills could be used, which prompted me to branch out on my own and form the boutique business consulting firm Echelon Consulting Group (ECG). This proved to be a huge success and resulted in projects with companies such as Austrim Nylex, Hagemeyer, L’Oreal and Mercury Marine. As this work was project based it enabled Grant and I to achieve a work life balance envied by most. We were able to follow our dreams both on land and on sea.
We are now at a point in our lives where we have so many varied interests that we
no longer want or need full boat ownership and this is why Even Keels has been born.
We hope it will be a vehicle for like-
Page 2/2
Above: Leanne at Jerusalem Bay, Hawkesbury/Pittwater, with MCYC’s yacht anchored in the background
Even Keels Cruising Club INC 9897603 ABN 37599776442