Stepping up to the Safe Harbor Sunroad marina meeting spot for Challenged Sailors San Diego, I wasn’t sure what or whom to expect. I was there to sail as a participant the first time in 2023. In addition to more traditional forms of treatment, sailing has been an important part of my healing journey from PTSD.

When I found myself on land in Southern California last year, I decided to try sailing with Challenged Sailors. The people and organization I found on the dock delighted me and keep me coming back as a volunteer. If you have been sailing on San Diego Bay, or even looked out at the bay from a flight to or from the San Diego airport on a Friday or Saturday afternoon, you have probably seen the Challenged Sailors sailing. For the past 10 years, this small organization, with its fleet of little sailboats, has managed to remove all the barriers to sailing for people with disabilities. All of them.

Don’t know how to sail? No problem! Your volunteer companion sailor does know how to sail, and you can sail as much or as little as you like. Your legs or arms or eyes or ears or brain work differently? No worries. You can still go sailing. Challenged Sailors San Diego has boats with special assistive devices that almost anyone can sail. If you are medically stable and able to follow directions, you can sail. Only available on weekdays or weekends? We sail Fridays and Saturdays almost every week. Don’t have a disability? Come volunteer. Don’t have money to pay for sailing? No problem. It’s free.

Some groups reserve the entire fleet for the day, and others book an individual reservation. Some people come once. Some people come back many, many times as participants or volunteers. Some of our boats join the sailing races in San Diego. There are kids and adults of all ages.

The boats — a fleet of eight Martin 16s — offer a stable platform for two people to sail. Participants sit in the front seat, and a trained companion sailor sits in the back seat. Simple controls for the mainsail and self-tacking headsail all lead to the front seat. A few boats are rigged for spinnakers. Participants can control the boats using lines, the special steering stick, or assistive devices that allow the steering and lines to be controlled by a joystick or a sip-and-puff interface — common controls used on some electric wheelchairs and scooters.

The Martin 16s have no motors aside from the assistive devices, and are willing to move along in just a breath of wind. We generally sail for about two hours, but boats can come back to the dock any time their sailors are ready. We are never in a rush, and there is an appropriate focus on safety.

Each sail starts with a meeting to introduce everyone on the team supporting the eight boats, and review safety and the sail plan for the day based on wind and tides and any other factors. An outboard motor-powered chase boat supports the sailing fleet and sometimes offers a platform for photographs. Dock-support volunteers help rig and de-rig boats and safely get everyone into and out of boats. Lifts and volunteers assist participants who need help transferring from scooters, wheelchairs or walkers to the boats. Behind the scenes, many other volunteers make the weekly sailing possible.

The original fleet of Martin boats came from a now-defunct adaptive-sailing organization that Sylvia and Mike Swall took under their own boat insurance in 2014 and nurtured into the current nonprofit organization, Challenged Sailors San Diego. They have now passed leadership to the board, currently led by Peter Phillips, but Sylvia and Mike still greet sailors and volunteers most weekends.

What I found on my first day was a fun group of resilient people of all ages and backgrounds who are gifted at meeting everyone exactly where they are. Then we safely share a little sailing adventure together for the afternoon. I’ve now trained as a volunteer companion sailor and sit in the back seat to assist participants to have a fun day sailing on San Diego Bay.

Spending a couple of hours on the water together is a great chance to swap some sailing and life stories. The perfect weather in San Diego doesn’t hurt either. Light winds, clear skies and sailing-friendly temperatures are the norm year-round, making it possible for Challenged Sailors San Diego to sail nearly every weekend. The bliss for me, though, is watching a new sailor find the joy and freedom of sailing shine through their smiles and sparkling eyes.

You want to be a part of this? You can.

Join as a participant, volunteer, or contribute. Applications are available here: www.challengedsailors.org.

Celebrate 10 years of Challenged Sailors San Diego with a tax-deductible donation in any amount that can keep sailing available to everyone, every weekend for another 10 years and beyond.

Read more interesting sailing stories in the November issue of Latitude 38.