I am trying to help a friend find a good place to live in Florida. Here is the deal he has a spinal cord injury (SCI) that has resulted in him using a wheelchair for mobility. It is a fairly high level SCI and so he needs help with transferring in and out of boats, cars, etc. Yet he is a very active sailor and sportsman.
He wants to live in a place that is warm and has access to sailing. He sails a Hobie 16 with Trapseats and wants to continue this activity in Florida, and so he needs to find a place with some H16 sailors and active fleet. And wants to live in a town that is known for being accessible to people with disAbilities.
So if any of you know of a place that would be accessible to persons with disabilities in activities of daily living and sailing that would be great!
He does not own a boat (yet) but we are trying to get the funding so at least he can take a set of Trapseats with him. Also, he has capsized already so he has been initiated and is not to afraid of doing it again.
Have him check out the Tampa Bay area. Dunedin Causeway has cats sailing there every weekend of the year and everyone is willing to lend a hand to someone. It is also easy to access, just back his car right up to the water. There is also a wheelchair accessable restroom and shower there. As St. Petersburg used to be reffered to as "Heaven's Waiting Room" I am sure there won't be any handicap access problems.
the st. pete sailing center has an active disabled sailing group. they have sonars and a 2.4 meter class (if you like singlehanding) that are very active. they also have several disabled regattas throughout the year. they even have a dock with reserved disabled boat parking.
Check with John Ross-Duggan: he was doing this same kind of cat sailing all over Florida, but I haven't seen him for 3 years. Does he live in Sarasota now?