Water slaps the hull as Teresa and Sharon, hair waving crazily behind them, look at each other with giddy expressions. These two amazing ladies are sailors with disabilities and I have never seen such big smiles plastered across their faces. They love sailing, being free of their disabilities ashore, freed to conquer the wind and waves.
I want to take a moment and share the impact you, as a member of Shilshole Bay Yacht Club, have on the lives of these sailors. Your partnership allows more than two hundred people with disabilities to get out on the water each year. Sailors like Sharon, who are unable to walk unaided, experience a sense of freedom and control over their surroundings. Sailors like Faron, confined to a wheel chair, unable even to move his fingers, can captain a boat using just his breath to manage the lines. Footloose is showing people with disabilities that their disability does not define them. SBYC is enabling this through generous donations of time and money.
Teresa and Sharon are long time Footloose sailors. They show up early and stay late – soaking up as much time on the water as they can. They are veterans and that was an exciting day- Windworks brought a Catalina Capri 22 to an event for Footloose to test run!
Footloose is nearing 30 years of operation. In the early days Bob, Footloose’s founder, acquired a pair of Columbia 21 sailboats. With their large cockpits and stable platform, they were ideal boats – but even back then they were old, remaining from the early 1970s. Over the intervening 28 years, the boats have provided experiences for hundreds of sailors each year. Now over 40 years old, the Columbias have had a full life and their old bones are creaky; they are ready for retirement.
In 2017 I pitched a vision to the Footloose board of replacing the Columbias. The board was excited and began planning. In the beginning of 2018 we began fundraising. To date, SBYC members have helped raise the bulk of funds needed to secure the new boats.
- Chris and Joe Bozick raised $18,000 through the Shoreline Rotary and area clubs
- Ken McKenzie, Tom Madden, and Dick Eagle donated $7,000 from their Catalina club
- The SBYC TransPuget Race donated $1,100, and encouraged over $600 in additional domains during the award ceremony!
- Shilshole Bay Yacht Club donated an additional $1,000 as a holiday gift
- Numerous club members (wishing to remain anonymous) donated over $1,000 combined
Your extremely generous support will allow Footloose to purchase at least one Catalina Capri 22, ensuring the future continued service of this amazing organization!
You are invited to the Footloose Midwinter Potluck! It is a casual event to celebrate the year. Please join us! Let Ben or Ken know if you can make it.
January 19 @ 12:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Emmanuel Episcopal Church
44400 86th Avenue SE
Mercer Island.
