Circumstances change. You’re out there, alone on the calm waters of a lake, when a strong wind rolls in, the sails begin to flutter and flail, and you’re forced to change course or risk disaster.

Glenn Miller, joiner, volunteer fireman and sailor, knows this all too well.

He knows what it’s like to skim across the surface of the water, that feeling of freedom, of complete autonomy. He also knows what it’s like to sit on the edge of things, watching from the sidelines, going from an active participant to a restless spectator.

When Glenn, a father of four, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in his early 30s, a slow change began. First, it was just a new type of tiredness, numbness in his legs and some unexpected clumsiness. Then the symptoms became more debilitating: muscle weakness, shuddering exhaustion and, eventually, reliance on an electric wheelchair. He certainly thought his sailing days were over.

The same year Glenn received his diagnosis, 1997, a new programme was being developed on the Gold Coast, the first of its kind in Queensland. Called Sailability, it had been launched in Australia six years earlier and focused on removing the financial and physical barriers to sailing. For everyone. The programme included heavy-keeled boats designed to resist capsizing, hoists to lower participants into the cockpits and trained volunteers manning every vessel.

A few years after the programme began, Glenn offered to be one of those volunteers. When it became clear he had lost none of his sailing skills, he was invited to take a blind boy out onto Runaway Bay. The boy didn’t say much, but his excitement, the pleasure he felt, was obvious. Glenn felt it too. It was a revelation. Suddenly, the limitations that had slowly been overtaking his life, consuming his happiness, fell away. Possibilities opened up. This feeling was further cemented at a subsequent Sailability event at Cooby Dam.

Glenn shared his thoughts and enthusiasm with friends at Warwick’s hub, a place where people with disabilities and their carers gather once a week to socialise. It was an easy sell. A committee led by Glenn and Peter Stacy was formed. Sailability Leslie Dam (SLD) was officially incorporated as a not-for-profit charity in 2023, and plans were drawn up to get boats onto the water and finance the process.

Their requirements? At least two boats, shipping containers for storage, life jackets, a hoist, a pontoon, a safety vessel, volunteers with sailing experience and funding.

It was very much a community effort. As the months, then years, passed, people with disabilities, their families, Glenn, his wife Nicole, carers Michelle and Sue, the committee and the wider community, including local businesses and service clubs, were inspired by Glenn’s passion.

Donations began rolling in, a grant was obtained, money was raised collecting cans for cash, the Biloela Sailing Club donated boats, and Warwick’s Sailing Club, which has been very supportive, found a spot for the containers alongside its clubhouse.

Some nights, on their property outside Allora, Glenn wondered whether his dream would ever become a reality. The MS was tightening its clutches, hospital stays were increasingly frequent, and it was getting harder to keep up the momentum.

So, a decision was made. SLD’s official launch was set for 27 November.

There will be face painting, a sausage sizzle and some speechifying, but the true victory will happen later, when once a month, a new generation of sailors leave their wheelchairs and the sidelines behind, gliding silently out into a world without boundaries, without limitations.

SAILABILITY LESLIE DAM OFFICIAL LAUNCH

Friday 27 November, 10am – 2pm 

at the Warwick Sailing Club

Come along and celebrate the official launch of Sailability Leslie Dam! Enjoy a sausage sizzle, face painting and the opportunity to learn more about this inspiring community initiative. Everyone is welcome to join the celebrations, meet the team and discover how Sailability is helping make the freedom and joy of sailing accessible to everyone.

For enquiries: gmill600@hotmail.com