sophie goes sailing

Written by John Brandau

Sophie is a 23 year old that has CP and a seizure disorder. She’s in a wheel chair and needs assistance 24/7. She’s a cute 90 pounder but high maintenance! Our goal is to have Sophie experience as much as possible in the outdoors. Sophie has rock climbed, water skied, kayaked, and paddled boarded. Nothing compares to the experience at SEAS. Juju and friends have a great understanding of the complex needs individuals have to successfully sail. For Sophie transferring to the boat in a hoyer lift  and having a comfortable seat is huge. Additionally, there are cushions/pads for areas that need support to either help her sit more comfortable or to prevent any type of pressure sores. All the support for Sophie and others ensures that she not only has a comfortable experience but also learns how to sail. In our time with Juju, Sophie was able to use a head switch to steer the sail boat. Normally this would be extremely difficult for her but with the support of an awesome chair, cushion, and padding we feel we are getting the full output from her.

Thank you for your support of the SEAS program. We recently moved to Sheboygan and this is by far the best program we have experienced for our daughter anywhere.

We are SEAS cheerleaders to the special needs community as this is a gem that should be experienced by all interested special needs people. The equipment used is well maintained and kept in excellent condition. If SEAS is an investment I would consider it a can’t miss.

sam goes sailing

In the summer of 2019, we had the pleasure of taking Sam Schmidt of Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports sailing while the team was in town for the NTT IndyCar Series at Road America. Fortunately, the weather gave us the opportunity to impress Sam, his team, and his family! In windy and wavy conditions, we were able to show Sam that sailing, while much slower than IndyCar Racing, can get the heart racing as well. Sam is an inspirational leader in the world of mobility solutions and he was impressed by the setup on our adaptive Sonar, ‘Katie’.

FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE AND FUN

Freedom, independence, and fun are 3 words rarely heard in conjunction with life with disability. I have been a quadriplegic for the past 8 years due to the effects of living with ALS and, while people with disabilities are no longer hidden away in shame by their families, nearly every time I am out in public I see someone’s face cloud over in pity. I can almost hear their thoughts of “That poor man”, as if my life were somehow lessened. Less opportunity, less freedom, less fun, they think.

I have loved sailing ever since my early teen years in Sheboygan when my father started teaching me to sail, infecting me with his enthusiasm for the sport. There is such beauty and harmony in sailing, working with the other crew, the boat, wind and sea. And there’s the majesty of the sea, beautiful, mysterious, ever changing, always inviting with a hint of adventure. The seas have no boundaries or limitations. 

Thanks to the people at SEAS and their commitment to making sailing available and accessible to anyone, I, with all my disabilities, can get hoisted into a sailboat and put into a special chair and go for a sail. Not just a passenger, we have developed a series of technical capabilities such that I can steer and trim the sails completely independently.

There are no words for what this means to me. Joyful, life-giving, food for the soul, strengthening. These words are certainly present, but they are wholly inadequate. Feeling the wind, hearing the water rush by the hull, and seeing the borderless, boundary-free horizon as my empty wheelchair on the pier fades from relevance is an experience of the transcendent. 

Although I am deeply grateful to the compassionate and supremely gifted people of SEAS for what they have done for me, what gives me greater joy is seeing how the adaptive program has spread out from its origins in blind sailing to other kinds of disabilities and opportunities, culminating with hosting the 2018 Para World Sailing Championships in September. SEAS put on a highly successful regatta for 100 sailors from around the world, showcasing their professionalism alongside the beauty of Lake Michigan and the hospitality of Sheboygan.

I invite you to be a part of growing this highly impactful program. As you are able, please volunteer and give in order that SEAS can continue to grow and provide people with an extremely wide range of disabilities the opportunity to learn to sail. 

Not just to sail, but an opportunity to crush boundaries, to erase limitations, to feel free and to have fun.

In gratitude,

Steve Heronemus

See Steve first sail with us here

LEARNING TO SAIL…FROM A BLIND PERSPECTIVE

Why not me?

My name is BJ Blahnik and I am visually impaired from Retinitis Pigmentosa. I still have some vision however it is very limited. The community would consider me visually impaired however I consider myself visually challenged. As my sight diminished I was forced to make a life change and turn in my driver’s license when I was 23. I lost all sense of independence which was very frustrating. I gained a lot of that independence back when I received my first Leader Dog in 2008. This was a major life change and it pointed my outlook on life in the right direction. My life is now better because of Leader Dogs for the Blind.

Knowing that Leader Dogs for the Blind was founded by a service organization called Lions Club, I knew I wanted to be involved. Becoming a Lion and being a part of an organization that focuses on the blind and visually impaired as well as many other community projects on a local, state and international level we learn how good it is to serve those in need. Those experiences helped me become a better person and changed my life entirely.

Many of those personal life changes allowed me to find that special someone, get married and have a family. Because of this I moved to Sheboygan, Wisconsin. I grew up around dairy farming and rarely had the opportunity to be able to do something like being on the water. By having my new family and now living next to such a beautiful scene such as Lake Michigan I knew I wanted to take advantage of this. I went sailing for the first time a while ago and really enjoyed the experience. The first thing which came to mind was “how would I ever be able to do something like this?” Therefore, I let that desire wash away.