Lymington Sailability, sailing, disabled, disability, hampshire, south coast, solent, uk

Affiliated to

What does it involve?
We sail normally twice a week from April until October with each session normally lasting about 4 hours, about two is actual sailing time. It may be morning or afternoon depending on the tide.
Our members need help with getting their boat out and rigging it ready to sail it.
Some of our members need assistance getting into their boat; we have a hydraulic hoist that aids with this.
If the wind is above force 4 we don't go, neither do we go if it is cold or wet.
For reasons of safety all of our boats go out with 2 safety boats, each requiring a 2 man crew.
All of the boats have to be launched and recovered; we have adapted trailers that help with this.
A shore crew remain on the slip way, with radio contact they are able to ready the trailers for the sailors returning.
The boats are put away and anyone wishing to partake in a debrief in a local hostelry is free to do so.
Last but not least as with all charities we keep up the constant battle to raise funds, raise our profile and make as many people as possible aware of the service we provide.

Who is suitable?
We have volunteers of all ages, from all walks of life, with many different experiences and skills.
Basically anyone who has some time to give, no matter how little or great it is, is welcome to join us; whether they are male or female, young or middle aged.

What can the charity offer you?
We can offer you the chance to learn new skills and get you trained in various RYA qualifications.
You get to have fun in a beautiful location.
You meet new people, and make new friends.

Safety conscious...
We are always safety conscious, and with new ideas and techniques always developing it was decided that we would have two days of training. The two days were lead by a member of our group who is also an RYA instructor.

Keen to get started...
On the day the Volunteers were all keen to get started - they wanted to improve and advance their skills. They worked as a team, readying the boats and learning to do pre start checks. All checks done, it was off down the river in the power boats and out in to the Solent. Once in the Solent we practised reversing and Tony,our teacher, demonstrated how lifting the engine and moving weight onboard prevented water flooding onto the boats. Manoeuvres using the wind and tide were practised, and practised, all day.

Aly said ‘we all gained confidence by repeated coming alongside; exhausting!’.

Day two saw the Chairman deliberately stuck hard on the mud. Once again everyone worked as a team to retrieve her and tow her safely back to shore-some got soaked doing it!

The day was drawn to a close with ‘man overboard’ exercises.

The comments? Read for yourselves...

‘The weekend was excellent - I think we all had a great time and Tony is a great instructor’ Jamie.

‘This has consolidated all the training Keith has done with us over the winter’ Steph.

Tony said ‘it was great to see such enthusiasm, willingness to learn and team spirit'.

‘At least you didn’t have to put the boats to bed’ Sue.

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