Sailing really is rinse and repeat - Jo McKenzie
As people get older and their lives change, they often leave their favourite sport behind. They’re too busy, too old, or not fit enough anymore. This sad reality particularly applies to women.
Sailing is not one of these sports. And for women, it’s a long-term pastime.
Women may learn to sail with family from an early age. Their love of the water and the satisfaction of learning sailing skills, being in the fresh air, getting wet and windblown, is a childhood love and cherished memory.
But then they follow the well-worn path of meeting a boy, falling in love, gaining a career, getting married, launching babies into the world and, eventually, sitting in their empty nest. Then the old love affair with sailing starts knocking on the door waking them up at night.
For Jo McKenzie, a 20-year member and volunteer at Mornington Yacht Club, who has shepherded her two fantastic kids through the Club, it’s now her time. Time to rinse and repeat, dust off the old sailing skills and start crewing with husband Cam on their beautiful ocean racer, the JIII yacht, Ginan.
After many years away from offshore sailing, returning to the sport has been both familiar and refreshing. “It’s been a long time between drinks, so to say,” she reflects. “I’m now more confident in myself and at a different stage of life.”
Both she and her husband Cam had sailing backgrounds from earlier years. “Cam and I both sailed early on, but we were on different boats,” she explains. Her own offshore experience included a number of deliveries alongside Nigel Jones during his Cadibarra days, including races to King Island and Apollo Bay.
Now sailing together brings a new appreciation. “It’s good to see Cam in a different light. I have huge respect for that different side of both Cam and his co skipper and long time friend Nigel, it’s lovely experiencing it and I’m just soaking it all up.” reflected Jo.
“As I step onto the boat, it’s reassuring that I know the terminology. I may not always contribute, but I do understand it all.” which is quite reassuring explained Jo.
More than anything, it’s the feeling of being offshore that has drawn her back in. “I really enjoy the feeling of being on the ocean, you get into a rhythm and there’s so much more to see than when I’m racing around the sticks.”
Among the practical discoveries of returning to racing “Knee pads,” she laughs. “They’re like pillows on my knees and wow, they make all the difference.”
Jo’s story illustrates that it’s possible to pick up sailing long after the kids graduate and you’ve earned a few more laughter lines. Just give it a go.
Photos provided by Jo McKenzie
Written by Lee Renfree
