Learning the Ropes

Put the main sail on the boom, put up the jib, go to the port, go to the starboard side, point towards the cut, put the rope in the cleat, and tie the halyard down! What on earth does all this mean? For an everyday person, the sailing terminology can seem somewhat confusing, but for Travis, Sunday was a perfect day to refresh his sailing skills. With little wind, it is obvious that sailing a boat will go nowhere and seem pointless, but Travis, a T-12 para has already completed his 4 hr classroom studies, passed the 100 question written test, and completed the 4-hr on water lesson. Since there was little to no wind on Sunday, RISE Sailing was spent not necessarily sailing on the boat, but a morning used for our participant to practice his sailing skills in something he wants to learn and enjoys doing. He worked on rigging the boat, his motor work, driving the boat in and out of the slip and acting as Captain, directing his first mate on what to do. Captain Don assisted Travis as he went through everything, just as he would do if he came out and sailed with a friend. He directed his first mate Andrew and RISE volunteer Jessica on how to help him. By the end of the morning, Travis had it down, and it was smooth sailing- HA! No pun intended!!! Now he just needs to go out and finish his practical work and he’ll be Keelboat certified! Way to go Travis… I mean Captain Travis!

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Stephanie Bowerman, MS, ABD

Program Director RISE Adventures, Inc.

sbowerman@riseadventures.org