By Taylor Gencarelli
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in North America and is home to striped bass, bluegills and industrious fishermen, as well as disabled Marylanders who learn how to sail a boat with the help of a nonprofit popularly called CRAB.
The Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating organization offers free of charge one of the most inclusive sailing experiences on the Bay, CRAB officials bragged.
Multiple programs are offered with most of them designed to increase the awareness of the therapeutic value that sailing offers for persons with disabilities, officials said. For example, on Family Sail Sundays, guests with disabilities and their families get to experience sailing together on a 45-minute trip. The program is offered one Sunday each month from April through October.
Other programs include Group Sails, Sailing Clinics, and Sailing Camps for Youth.
“Being from Maryland, I never knew about it until my son was diagnosed with autism,” said Kendra Hunt Liverman, from Edgewater. “We found out about it through a special-needs resource fair.”
Liverman said that her family has been sailing for about six years and that the organization is filled with “such a great group of people.”
“My son who is 9, enjoys helping steer the boat, while most of the time, my other son who is almost 11, enjoys leaning over the boat, putting his hands in the water,” Liverman said. “He loves being in the sun, on the water, and feeling the wind.”
CRAB executive director Paul Bollinger Jr. told The Washington Post that the organization makes accommodations for most disabilities, including blindness, deafness, autism, muscular dystrophy, amputation, cerebral palsy, spina bifida and others. No one is turned away at CRAB, no matter how different they may be from the rest of the world, Bollinger said.
The organization typically recommends participants or guests to start with a short session that covers a basic set of terms for parts of the boat such as main, jib, rudder, keel.
Clients also learn very basic principles of sailing, such as how the sail is like a wing and is adjusted on the wind and direction of sail. Once the basics are covered, participants get on a boat. At this point, CRAB uses dozens of volunteers to help get individuals on and off the boats, and for other personal assistance. Guests who are not ambulatory are provided a special seat to board.
“We partner with many community organizations that provide services to people with disabilities,” explained Sarah Winchester, director of operations. “The majority of our guests come to CRAB with these organizations. We also list our family programs through local activity boards.”
The free sailing lessons have been provided for more than 28 years, with more than 800 guests grabbing the opportunity each year to train, be entertained and empowered on the handicap-accessible sailing boats. This year, CRAB had 122 volunteers donate 3,250 hours of their time, Winchester said.
The idea took root 30 years ago. Founder Donald Backe had been a sailor his entire life until a car accident in 1989 interrupted his ability to sail. Backe was paralyzed, and said he was unable to do what he had spent his whole life doing. The accident also affected Backe’s ability to continue his job of teaching in Annapolis.
With time, Backe renewed his love of sailing and came up with the idea of CRAB, an organization that allows those with disabilities to learn how to sail. Backe began CRAB in 1991 with the help of friends, family, and a generous donation of a fleet of four sailing boats, valued at somewhere between $80,000 and $160,000.
Sailing takes money. Maintenance alone ranges from $2,000 to $7,000, officials said. Frequent sailing could cost nearly $6,000 a year.
CRAB services are offered free to the disabled because of altruistic support from many volunteers, sponsors and individual donors, officials said. The operations rely largely on the financial support of the individuals willing to help. The organization accepts donations, volunteer assistance, or actual boats purchased for CRAB guests.
Describing the group as “an amazing organization,” volunteer Carol Shreitmueller said information about the services is easy to obtain. She added that the transformation in attitude of when the guests arrive to when they leave is like “night and day.”
“The visible difference between our clients who are nervous or anxious before we get them onto our sailboats vs. the huge smiles and happy caretakers and family members would knock your socks off,” Shreitmueller said. “It is stunning what a direct difference this little organization makes in the lives of so many different types of people.”
The CRAB organization expects to expand as the services increase in popularity. Officials said one plan is to open an Adaptive Boating Center (ABC) on Back Creek in Annapolis. Gov. Larry Hogan has placed $1 million in his 2019 Capital Improvement Program budget for the center, according to crabsailing.org.
CRAB also plans to contribute to the location on Back Creek by hosting its annual “CRAB Cup” fundraiser event, a day where members and volunteers are able to compete against each other in a race on the water. Typically, more than 80 boats participate in pursuit-style racing to raise money to continue to promote CRAB’s mission, and to increase the program’s exposure to persons with disabilities.