Sailing Sailing on the Charles River!

I was thinking of fun things people can do in the summer that are slightly out of the ordinary and for whatever reason I thought of sailing. One of the things I wanted to do in the past is to go sailing and I was finally able to go as part of a program started by Community Boating Inc one summer. Community Boating is a charity that helps people with disabilities go sailing as they have boats that are accessible to people in wheelchairs. I went sailing with a group called Act Today Influence Tomorrow (ATIT) in the summer of 2012.  ATIT is a group of young adults (age 16-24) from the Boston area who do projects to help other people with disabilities. We were all only asked to pay $1 each for the trip. Each sailboat had a Community Boating worker who would steer the boat around the Charles River and teach us how to sail. The weather was really good and the Charles River is beautiful in summer so everyone had fun.

 I liked it most because it was something everyone in my group could do. If you do go with a group, taking a picnic like we did makes things even more fun! It was a totally new experience and it was something I’m really glad I did. Sailing (like all fun things) should be for everyone and this sailing program makes everyone able! To learn more about Community Boating Inc and download the application for their Universal Access Program please go to this website: http://www.community-boating.org/.  If you live in a state other than Massachusetts and still want to learn to sail, here are some other states that have sailing programs:

·  Arizona: Arizona State Sailing Team’s Adaptive Sailing Program (http://asusailing.org/adaptive-sailing/).

·  Florida: Shake A Leg Miami: Adapted water sports for all. (http://www.shakealegmiami.org/site/c.kklujbmqkph/b.2521629/k.bf03/home.htm.) The Freedom Waters Foundation in Naples, Florida also has adaptive sailing (http://freedomwatersfoundation.org/our-programs/adaptive-sailing/).

·  Illinois: Judd Goldman Sailing Foundation (http://www.juddgoldmansailing.org/about_the_foundation.html)

·  Maryland: Chesapeake Region Access Boating in Annapolis. (http://crabsailing.org/about-us/). There is also the Downtown Sailing Center in Baltimore (http://www.downtownsailing.org/).

·  New York: YKnot Sailing (free sailing for people with disabilities): (http://www.yknotsailing.org/.)

For information about other fun kayaking/canoeing activities that are accessible please see this link: http://www.travelinwheels.com/travelstories/story_story.aspx?which=active&uid=86.