Michelle on Hope Island during our recent Hope Vale/Pelican project
Michelle has crewed with Pelican over the last 6-7 years as cook, sailing crew and environmental educator. I was surprised to learn that Michelle was actually raised to be very fearful of the sea. Michelle wanted to overcome a sense of fear that had been instilled by her parents. Michelle's parents had survived a perilous sea journey from Vietnam (they are Chinese-though they had lived in Vietnam for a long time). Even though they brought up their children in Sydney, they never spent time by the beach as the average Australian family does. When Michelle became an adult, she went off on a round coastal Australia journey with a close friend. Anna (who has also crewed on Pelican, and in fact introduced us to Michelle), who helped Michelle leap, venture, jump, wander and explore the water, encouraging her to slowly lose her fear of the sea. She then moved in leaps and strides- earning her dive ticket, studying marine biology and working on Lord Howe Island, before sailing back to the mainland. To know Michelle today you would have no inkling that this extraordinarlily adept sea person was initially totally scared of the sea.