Sailing

Tonight I got to go sailing in the Saint Louis River estuary. In terms of excitement, on a scale of one through ten, I was at a ten. This is the sailboat I was on. I left my phone and keys in the equipment shed during my ride. Now the boat is taking a second load of participants from the Courage/Kenney program. I was with two professional sailors and two participants. The weather was perfect. The temperature was in the upper 70's and the sky was mostly clear with a touch of smokey haze. At one point during our sail the wind died completely down and we had to use an oar to get some momentum. After that the wind picked up again. On the water is my happy place.

One of the participants I sailed with agreed to try a solo ride. Here he is after taking off from the dock. He was so happy. Later I told him I was impressed with his courage. He said he had quite a night. I didn't realize he got stuck on a sandbar and the fishing boat with a motor had to come and pull him out. On his way back in he parallel parked that sailboat like a pro.

This is one of the larger sailboats with a motor. I thought it looked so pretty with the sun behind the sail.

A guy with paraplegia went sailing. His electric wheelchair waits for him to return. He was hoisted into the boat on a Hoyer lift. I admire his courage in trusting people to transfer him safely to go sailing. He looked like he had a good time.

Tonight was a magical night.