Those of you who have followed this blog from the very first post will know that my sister and I have followed both our parents' passion for sailing. Mum had a stroke when she was 74 which caused paralysis of her right side. While we were holidaying together I found that there was a disabled sailing school nearby, The Roanoke Day Centre run by the Nancy Oldfield Trust on Barton Broad, Norfolk. They were a bit taken aback at my request that they gave Mum a go and said that they catered for teenagers. I muttered "discrimination" and they relented. I will never forget the look of sheer bliss on her face as she took the helm and tacked back and forth across Barton Broad.
I have always had in mind that one day I could volunteer at such a centre. My sister has been telling me about how she volunteers as a keel boat skipper for Sailability in Southern England. My first contact with Sailability in Australia was at the Big River Sailing Club. I was impressed and then found out that they also sailed at Lake Ainsworth, Lennox Heads which is far closer to home for me.
This photo is of the little ballast assisted dinghies Sailability uses on Lake Ainsworth. They are an international class and their gun sailor Chris, a little person, is competing in the Para Olympics in the 303 with the yellow sail in England next year.
I went out for a spin with Chris. He doesn't weigh much and I weigh too much which doesn't improve the trim when sitting side by side. I quickly adjusted to using the joystick to steer but the main snag is that the super heavy centre board is too heavy for me to lift from a seated position.
I have watched men and women, young and old with a range of serious disabilities sail round the lake. Those with enough experience sail single handed and others go with an experienced volunteer. All come back elated.
I intend to return whenever I can and try to make myself useful. However I will leave the stronger and younger volunteers to lift the centre boards and lift people in and out of the boats. I can easily wade around and push the boats in and out and help rig. As I have a boat licence I can also drive the rescue launch.
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