Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) will have to cancel its monthly SailFree Sunday for May 20, 2018 because of the Bay Blues Festival at Sandy Point State Park on May 19 to 20. CRAB’s SailFreeSundays are one of its most popular events of the season, welcoming guests with any type of mental or physical disability as well as their families and friends at no cost. This represents one of only six SailFree Sundays held during the season.
CRAB President Brad LaTour commented on the news, “The crowding and access challenges CRAB faces at Sandy Point include competition with large events that prohibit our guests from entering the park for regularly scheduled sailing activities during the season.” LaTour also stated, “Unfortunately, the absence of ADA accessible docks in the City of Annapolis provides no relief from this situation.”
CRAB exhausted all alternative locations from supportive local groups including area yacht clubs and sailing schools, but was consistently met with existing facility and schedule challenges, or insufficient floating docks to ensure guest safety while boarding the boats.
According to Paul Bollinger, Executive Director of CRAB, “We have reached out to our guests who made reservations and to the regulars who have attended SailFree Sundays for many years to let them know of the cancellation. They were very disappointed, but understood our dilemma because of their special needs and the requirement for floating docks.”
CRAB will host the next SailFree Sunday on June 24th at Sandy Point State Park. To make a reservation please contact CRAB at 410.266.5722.
CRAB is a 501(c)3 non-profit that has been providing the thrill, freedom, and therapeutic value of sailing to persons with disabilities, recovering warriors, and local children from at-risk communities for 27 years in Annapolis, Maryland. Sailing programs include SailFree Sundays, Group Sails during the week, Sailing Camps & Clinics, and Regattas for recovering warriors and persons with disabilities. CRAB is located at 177 Defense Highway, Suite 9, Annapolis, MD 21401.
For additional information, contact CRAB’s Executive Director, Paul Bollinger, at ed@crabsailing.org or 410-466-5722.
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