Dear Will,

Thank you so much for being my sailing helper. I really liked how you were always calm, and how you helped me when we were sailing. I loved every sinjgle second, but I have to say, my most favorite moment was when we were doing 360's with the boats ... I hope to see you again, keep up the good work!

Sincerely,

    - Desmond

Dear Sailing friend,

Thank you for doing 360s! My favorite part was when we got to see an aircraft carrier. We saw other boats, a paddle board and a kayak. Thank you for letting me drive the boat ... I remember smelling food when we passed the restaurant. I had so much fun ... Thank you for this experience.

Sincerely,

    - Christopher

Dear Stan,

... I had so much fun and my favorite part was touching the water and steering.

    - A.

Dear Doug,

Thank you for teaching me how to sail. My favorite part were the wakes that were made by the passing boats. The next thing that I liked was tacking. The commands were fun to say. Thanks for teaching me how to tack.

I also liked when we tried to follow the seagulls and other birds. We saw a Blue Heron. We also saw new types of birds. Thanks for the wonderful experiences from this year and the years prior to this one.

Your friend and sailing partner,

     - Abby

“Freedom to do anything in the ocean!”

    - Eric B.

“The wonderful sailors and companions have taught me some great lessons. Growing up as a sailor who is deaf, I have learned that all I need are my eyes and feeling the wind to guide me.”

    - Sue T.

“Vision loss has allowed me to see what is important in life, who my true friends are and how blessed we are to have all that we do. Because of the patience and teaching of numerous companion sailors, my sailing skills and knowledge have grown, along with my self-confidence and independence.  Sailing has contributed to my ever increasing level of confidence and can-do attitude.”

    - Tammy A.

“Sailing is very important to me, not just because it is my passion, but because of what it has taught me about myself.  I had thought sailing was a part of my past and something I could no longer do as a result of Muscular Dystrophy. Adaptive sailing has enabled me to sail again and experience feelings I hadn’t felt for a very long time - feelings like hope, empowerment, and freedom. I have learned that you can be blind or have a prosthetic limb and still sail, as other sailors I’ve met do. I discovered that I could leave my disability at the dock, sail in regattas and win!”

    - Colin S.