Yellowknife woman to tackle high seas
Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Apr 13/01) - What is it about the painted ship sailing through a painted sea beneath a copper sky that draws, that woos, that captures some to take the midlife plunge?
It's all about adventure, says Johnny Covello, 56, a longtime Yellowknifer who plans to sail for seven months next year from England, across the Atlantic, around Cape Horne and up the Pacific coast of South America to San Francisco.
"I've always wanted to sail around the world," she says.
"I can't put it off much longer."
Covello has hooked up with a British adventure company called Challenge Business. Founded by Sir Chay Blyth -- the first person to solo sail around the world non-stop against the current -- the company offers sailing adventure packages to people looking for a major adrenaline fix on the high seas.
Originally Covello's trip was scheduled to circle the globe but a lack of European sponsors forced organizers to cut it in half as a sail around the New World.
Covello recently returned from a training trip in Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay. It was her first experience in a 72-foot, steel sailboat on salt water and she says unlike some of the first timers keeled over with sea sickness, she had a blast.
"I loved it," she says.
"I felt like I was a live but there was lots of stuff to do."
Covello says some of the toughest parts dealt with adjusting the massive sails and keeping up with the gruelling watch schedule of four hours on, four hours off.
"It was the first time I actually fell asleep standing up."
Her husband and daughter are supportive, but are also a little uncertain about Covello's great adventure.
"It's a long time to be away from home," says daughter Katharine. "But it's a wonderful experience."
Says husband Lou: "I think it's exciting."
But: "I would never do it," he says.
Covello is currently trying to raise money for her adventure. The trip will cost around $40,000 and one Yellowknife business, Body Works, has already pledged to be a sponsor.
She's partnered up with Yellowknife's chapter of Students Against Drinking and Driving (SADD) to raise some funds for the trip. A quarter of the money she raises will be donated to the group.
The danger of sailing the high seas doesn't bother Covello.
"You can't spend your life thinking about how dangerous it is or you'd never do anything," she says.
