Blind Sailor Program

Are you legally blind?

Interested in being a companion sailor for someone with sight loss?

The Blind Sailors Program is a special program for those with sight loss, and for sighted individuals who want to team with the blind, teaching and crewing with to those unable to see the horizon.

Both learn-to-sail and advanced sailing and racing are offered, with instruction on how safely and competently to sail small and large sailboats.

Initial instruction and racing are done on the Martin 16 and Capri 22 sailboat.

11 thoughts on “Blind Sailor Program

  1. hi, im legally blind, 26, and know how to sail to some extent but would like to improve, even race if possible. i came down once in summer 2008, but havent since. anyways i would really like to get involved, so could you contact me when your days are for the martins and capris etc. thankyou, jen (858-568-3323)

    • Hi Jennifer, the Martin 16 sail on Fridays and Saturdays, other days by appointment. You still need to call the office at 619-523-9318 ahead of time to give us time to match you up with a sailing companion. Our Facebook page will also keep you updated on activities. Our calendar in the event section will also show you sailing days and times.
      Looking forward to have you sailing with us
      Philippe

  2. Hello! I am legally blind and would like to learn to sail, because I think it could open up more doors with regards to being able to operate a personal water craft, if I ever own one. When I first learn how to operte a vessel, I will need assistance until I feel comfortable. My question is, do you have any assistive/ adaptive technology to help the blind? I can use both audio and visual insturments, with the aid of a low-vision device. I have sometimes thought of mounting small cameras around the exterior of a water craft, so as to watch all of the activity on a monitor. Perhaps a camera that can go underneath the boat for viewing in shallow waters to make sure, that nobody in the water is doing anything stupid. Since I live in Sacramento, we don’t have a program like this. The closest program to me, is BAADS, which stands for Bay Area Association for Disabled Sailors in San Francisco. We need a program up here in Sacramento, perhaps on the American and Sacramento rivers and the delta.

    • Hi Rick, you are welcome to join us when you are in the neighborhood. Urban Miyares, Challenged America co founder is himself blind, that did not stop him from starting Challenged America, sailing on the bay and race the Transpac… twice

    • Hi Hank, there is a program similar to Challenged America in Seattle, at least our small boat program it’s called Footloose Sailing Association
      Philippe

  3. Hi, I’m a physically/visually disabled veteran with 50% of my vision now. I was learning to sail but since the loss of my sight I was out of place at the near by sailing club and my dreams of sailing have gone away unless you can help. I do have a small boat (Tanzer16) that needs some repairs but repairing it is worthless unless I learn to sail on my own or one of my kids learns to sail with me. I live in Falcon, NC. Can you help me learn the skills I need to get back in the water? I would love to learn to sail a bigger boat in open waters if possible. Thanks.

    • Hello Gilberto, thank you for contacting us. We understand your frustration, we would be happy to help and teach you how to sail if you are in the San Diego area. I will forward your information to the office and they will contact you to figure out how we can proceed and get you on your way to sailing.

  4. Hello. I’ve been legally blind since birth. I took sailing lessons in Monterey in 1983 and I loved it. Now, I’m living on Clearlake, CA and I’ve recently got a California 20 sloop. I’m going to try to reteach myself everything, but I’d really love to find (a) someone of whom to ask (possibly dumb) questions and (b) a compass which can read out the bearing in speech which is ACCURATE (unlike my iPhone) and (c) some text ebooks about sailing which I can have my Macintosh read to me (using text to speech) i.e., no copy protection. ..?

    I’d just like some resources to help me.

  5. Hi would love to get information on this, and learn about how to go about signing up, and requirements and so on. I will also be passing this info to our members at the blind community. Can someone email me? You can find my contact info at the blind community webpage at http://www.theblindcommunity.com Thanks and hope to here back soon.

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