When I took this picture on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, it was just another picture of Dennis doing some adult sailing instruction. I have hundreds of these. It’s still somehow worth taking a picture every time. I did not know then that this would be the last one.

As I write this in late October, the Sailing Center is heavily damaged and that floating dock is in pieces. The park where we operate is closed and we are being allowed access only to clean up our boats and building.

The floating docks were constructed by volunteers for the 2012 IFDS World Championship and so were outfitted to mount hoists used to get people from a wheelchair to a boat and back again.

Sailing is a special kind of freedom, whether it’s the person learning how to make the most of the wind later in life like in the picture above or it’s our sailors who arrive in a chair but who have the same freedom of movement as others once on the water.

We’ll gather our boats and our dock and be back when we can. Details on the damage coming in the next post.

The Sailing Center is happy to accomodate adults who have never sailed and those who sailed long ago and want to get back into it. Here’s a short video:

Wednesdays at The Sailing Center we are happy to see our adult students come in for sailing lessons. This woman sailed long ago and wants to get back into it. The protected basin provides a great place to relearn basic skills and get comfortable in the boat again.

Several Sunfish and a Weta trimaran turned out for some fun racing!

The Hibiscus Festival in downtown Punta Gorda’s waterfront Gilchrist Park 2024.