Wade, one of the regular Sailability sailors, was brought down to the beach in his go-anywhere wheelchair by his mum, Tarnie.
We set up one of the club karts with a shadow and Nev led the way with a deuce bar. This is the first time I’d seen this setup and it worked fabulously.
Wade absolutely loved the experience, his whoops of joy could be heard every time he passed by.
Later on Tarnie went for a ride by herself and Jenny took Wade for a stroll down to the water in his wheel chair. Although Wade’s eyesight is not so good his hearing is obviously excellent, every time his mum came by in her kart Wade gave out a yell of excitement.
This was a very satisfying exercise. And easily set up now that the club has its own karts, shadows and deuce bars. If we were to encourage more disabled sailors to join us it would require a commitment from club members to assist in getting wheelchairs on and off the beach and helping people in and out of the karts. What do you think?