Meet My Buddy Don

Don lives at the V A hospital in Palo Alto and he and I hooked up at the 2006 Wheelchair Regatta hosted by the Encinal Yacht Club Saturday morning. The event is put on by the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association or PICYA. You know the yacht club on Caddyshack? They aren't like that at all.

See? Here's Encinal General Manager Thomas P. Hunt




The point of this day is to take out Vets in wheelchairs for a boat cruise. For boaters like me it is really simple, monitor the marine radio, wait to be called to the docks, pull in and your your passengers for the day are ready to be loaded. Lots of work happens behind the scenes with the VA hospitals getting transportation to Alameda, and lots of land volunteers to help during the day. You are wondering how they get into the boat?



It's all about People Power. Volunteers from Oakland and Alameda firefighters and others spend the day doing the lifting. A crew comes on the boat, and a crew remains on the dock. The Vet in the wheelchair is lifted up and over the side of the boat where the crew of 4 on the boat takes over and gently (but quickly) get the passenger placed in a safe place.

There were lots of boats and about 250 guests expected for the day. Some of the boats were able to take lots of Vets, like this tugboat "Sea Dive"



Heading out the Oakland Estuary to McCovey Cove is a popular stop for the boats on the Wheelchair Regatta.





We also checked out the San Francisco waterfront, always a beautiful sight. I love the bow and arrow "Cupid's Span."







We took a little extra time and cruised by the New Bay Bridge. Cool info link here. It is looking great.







I had picked up a couple of volunteers to help me out on the water. I was doing the boat stuff so it was good to have some help on board. On a Saturday with a Giants vs Dodgers home game the water can be a busy place.

Boating side note: I was able to check out ENC charts using a demo program on my iBook called MacENC. It worked well and I liked using these ENC charts of the bay. They provide extra information the regular raster charts don't, plus they have a few more features I like to use like a course up view.

Don was spent the day telling us jokes and stories. We all told a few jokes, talked a little politics and sports. Don told us he has has 3 brain operations, and had the last rites read to him twice. He was participating in his 7th Wheelchair Regatta.

After dropping him off for lunch at Encinal, I headed back to my slip at the Oakland Yacht Club. It was a pleasure to meet him and have him with me for a few hours. I bet he makes a big impression on everyone he meets. For what he did for his country, and for what we were able to do for him he made quite an impression on me. Fun guy.

Thanks Don for everything.