Happy Birthbay Miss MBM xxx

MBM....and that's just the physical side of it!!!

The evidence still indicates we work more, get paid less, and have fewer career opportunities than men. If we take time out to raise our children, our career goes down the gurgler and our contribution to society is completely unacknowledged and appreciated. When the time comes to return to the workforce, we start at the bottom of the food chain again.

I call it 'The Invisible Burka' and it's alive and well in the West. I'm not doing a rampant feminazi gig - I stopped getting my knickers in a twist and not shaving my legs years ago. However, like you MBM, when we have girl children, a parent naturally wants the very best for their children and can't help but notice the inequities and injustices.

God forbid your girl child wants to sail competitively in big boats. Whilst there appears to be a strong female presence in youth and/or dinghy sailing, something gets lost in the translation to big boats with, after all these years, still a very small female representation, just as in my youth. I was always the only female aboard back then and, thirty-five years later, more often than not, I still am.

Post Volvo Ocean Race, the women from Team SCA have repeatedly lamented their difficulty in just getting a ride offshore! This is astounding! And disturbing!

Okay, rant over. Off to annoy my daughters with my evening refrain of, 'It's so hot all of a sudden. I'm sweating. Aren't you girls hot???'. It's not a Queensland thing, just a mid-life female thing! .

I did a crewing course at South Perth yacht club and at the start of the course there were five men including myself and two ladies. As we broke up into teams I headed to the ladies for a reason, not just because they were good looking but because I knew that there would be far less ego on-board. As it turned out I was correct and we had a great time together with the boat and the instructor, sharing roles easily and all working well as a team.

On the last day of our training it was a pretty ugly sort of day and right at the edge of if we were allowed to go out. As it happened the only people left were myself and the two ladies.

Can I pause for effect. All the other lads had bailed.

I was only there as I've been in the roughest oceans of the south crayfishing and I'm not fazed and probably a little crazy to most.

However, the last day we did go out and while it became a real test on the way back in the ladies and I made it through and passed the course. I had an awesome time and a large part of that was because of the special ladies that I crewed with. It was easy to enjoy the boat and the sailing, that was what I was there for but the reason it was so enjoyable was the ladies and for me now I would chose a female crew anytime.

By the way MBM before I get too side tracked that looks like an awesome way to spend the day. I think a lot of kids would have gone home with special memories that will last a lifetime. Never know what you may have planted into their future.