DEBATES OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
(HANSARD)
HOUSE BLUES
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
Afternoon Sitting
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
MAE JONG-BOWLES
G. Coons: Today I would like to share a motivational story about a constituent of mine from Prince Rupert — a teacher, a good friend and a magnificent sailor. Mae-Jong Bowles grew up in the orchards of British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.
Although she was a terrific athlete, Mae never learned to swim. When she was at a high school graduation, as a joke Mae was tossed into the swimming pool. One of her friends finally figured out she was really drowning and dove in and pulled her out.
Mae met and married Marty Bowles, with whom I taught for many years at the alternate school in Prince Rupert. Marty is an avid sailor with a severe passion for life on the sea.
If Mae were to spend time with Marty, she had to learn two things. She had to learn how to sail and how to swim, which she did with great tenacity. A few years ago they bought the Wild Abandon, a C&C 30-foot sailboat, and sailed the thousand nautical miles from Victoria to Prince Rupert through fast riptides, Pacific Ocean swells, surviving a mainsail torn to shreds and the usual breakdowns in remote locations.
Mae learned to sail, repair the boat, navigate and not get seasick. She then went to an all-female sailing school, which cemented the knowledge she had already accumulated.
Sailing with Marty means sailing around the north coast, going out day and night in all kinds of weather — dense fog, no wind, high wind, horizontal sheets of rain, hail and snowstorms. I can only imagine the courage it took for Mae to learn to sail after nearly drowning.
This month, in a cruising magazine called Latitudes and Attitudes Seafaring, which is the third-largest boating magazine in the world, Mae was chosen as the seafaring person of the year. I’m thrilled to acknowledge Mae’s accomplishment. Her passion for sailing and her love for Marty have made her a remarkable candidate for this prestigious award. Mae-Jong Bowles is now an accomplished sailor in her own right and definitely knows that you can’t change the wind;, you can only adjust your sails.
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