Shavings Volume 13 Number 4 (September 1991)

Page 1

V O L U M E X I I I , N U M B E R 4 P u b l i s h e d f o r m e m b e r s of the C e n t e r for W o o d e n Boats

FREEDOM ON THE SOUND The equipment on the docks wheelchairs, crutches and slider boards - m a y have been a little different than what's normally found at the Center for Wooden Boats but the activities that took place A u g u s t 11 were the same ones that are always happening here - sailing, r o w i n g , p a d d l i n g and fun on the water.

private business (and we even sold a few of them C W B memberships d u r i n g the course of the day).

The day was planned as a sampler of boating activities for physically challenged and developmentally disabled boaters and would-be boaters of all ages and was sponsored by the C W B , Footloose Sailing Association and S K I F O R A L L .

SEPTEMBER

1991

First to set out in the m o r n i n g was the four-person r o w i n g gig, the Dan, w i t h C W B member R o b i n Hembree calling the strokes. N a n c y Oster, whose wheelchair sat on the dock, caught the cadence and was soon r o w i n g like a champ. US Rowing's double shell was next off the dock, w i t h Joy Farquhar introducing one of the day's participants to the exhilaration of s k i m m i n g across the lake inches off the water. A flotilla of Beetle Cats, Blanchard Jr's and C W B ' s venerable Yankee Clipper all skippered by C W B and Footloose sailors but crewed by the disabled soon followed. W h e n the d a y ended, 30 sail, r o w i n g and p a d d l i n g trips had been made on the waters of Lake U n i o n w i t h the participants, w h o ranged in age from six to 80, handling tillers, sheets and oars like o l d hands.

W i t h the help of the Northwest branch of US R o w i n g , J.C.'s Lake U n i o n Restaurant, Jerry B r o w n of the tug Challenger, the 4 - H Challenge Program, Seattle Alternative School #1, Seattle Public Schools' Special Services office and E d m a r k Corporation, participants were offered the opportunity to r o w , paddle and sail to their hearts' content. The day's events w o u l d not have been possible without those w h o responded to the call for volunteers. N o t only d i d they come from o u r o w n ranks, they came from H a r b o r v i e w H o s p i t a l , from S K I F O R A L L and Footloose, from the Veterans H o s p i t a l programs in Seattle and at Fort L e w i s and even from

They came to training sessions to learn h o w to correctly and safely transfer someone from a wheelchair to a boat. The non-boaters among them learned what the pointy end is called and the early arrivals on Sunday learned how to efficiently get the bilges d r y . A n d then they learned - or re-learned - just how fulfilling it is to bring the joy of messing about in small craft to someone w h o has been denied that feeling because of a disability.

The day's activities were put together to introduce neophytes to the joys of boating and increase recreational boating opportunities for those disabled w h o are already experienced boaters. It must have been a success. By day's end everyone, participants and volunteers alike, was talking not about the next "special" event but about coming back next week or next month to try it again.


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Shavings Volume 13 Number 4 (September 1991) by The Center for Wooden Boats - Issuu