Disabled sailors preserve pleasure, thrills and accessibility afloat on the San Francisco Bay

Laura Groffman, right, of Oakland, a member of the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors (BAADS), is removed from a Hansa Liberty sailboat Saturday, April 22, 2023 by volunteers Katherine Scannell, far left, of Oakland, and Joseph Hurst, of San Francisco, at South Beach Harbor in downtown San Francisco, California. Groffman uses a wheelchair for everyday use. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Alex Hruzewicz mentally juggles dozens of ever-changing questions as he captains a 41-foot keelboat called the Believe through San Francisco Bay.

When is the best time to unfurl the sails in 15 knots of wind? How fast are the currents moving? Is there enough clearance for the rudder? Is there a ferry heading towards the boat? Will the tide be high enough to dock? Is there sufficient pressure on the lines?

“It’s a dance with Mother Nature,” Hruzewicz said, using the boat’s electric winches to navigate the changing squalls as he sailed back to Pier 40 on the Embarcadero. “You can play with wind and waves. There’s an adrenaline rush and a calm – there’s not much like it.”

Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors (BAADS) member Nettie Wijsman of Menlo Park sits while Alex Hruzewicz, boatswain, prepares the sailboat “Believe” for “Sunday Keelboat Sailing” in South Beach Harbor in downtown San Francisco, California on Sunday, April 16, 2023. Wijsman uses a wheelchair for everyday use. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

After growing up around boats in Poland, he worked for years on commercial waters along the east coast taking on sail supply jobs. But after breaking his spine and both legs in a serious accident, he wondered if he would ever be able to sail again.

Luckily, the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors (BAADS) makes sure the answer is always yes.

Since 1989, the not-for-profit organization at the Port of South Beach Marina has offered hundreds of rides on specialty boats designed and customized for different sailing abilities. By 1992, the organization had adopted a new pirate mascot, taking on the legacy of the ‘original handicapped seafarers’ who used eye patches, pegged legs and hooks for lost hands.

Laura Groffman, right, of Oakland, a member of the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors (BAADS), is removed from a Hansa Liberty sailboat Saturday, April 22, 2023 by volunteers Katherine Scannell, far left, of Oakland, and Joseph Hurst, of San Francisco, at South Beach Harbor in downtown San Francisco, California. Groffman uses a wheelchair for everyday use. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Whether someone is paralyzed, blind, amputee or struggling with neurological disabilities, BAADS has an abundance of electric servos, winches and joysticks to help control the boat’s mainsheet and boom. There are harnesses and rocker lifts to get sailors into the boats, as well as gimballed seats and cushions to soften the toll of the windy ride. And capable volunteers and guests help coordinate and set up the sailboats. The organization’s events are free to the public and compensated by $60 annual voluntary memberships.

Kathi Pugh, the current Commodore of BAADS, grew up swimming, playing water polo and sailing with her father. After a skiing accident left her paralyzed from the chest down, sailing with BAADS to the middle of the bay was an exhilarating escape from everyday life and the limitations that can come with using a power chair – something she previously thought there was “no way” to deal with.

“For someone like me, there were very few recreational opportunities and nothing that was adventurous, a little dangerous or exciting, and also required skill,” Pugh said. “After my first sailing trip around Angel Island, I thought, ‘Oh my god, my world has been rocked and it will never be the same again.’

She wanted to help share that same feeling with as many people as possible and make all aspects of sailing accessible. Despite the popular belief that sailing is reserved for the wealthy, privileged, and able-bodied, BAADS’ mission is simple: “Get butts in boats,” Pugh said.

Are you curious about a leisurely cruise under the Bay Bridge, where the noise of traffic above you will be silenced and you might even spot the troll hidden by ironworkers to protect the structure from earthquakes? Five different keelboats are available for this excursion on Sundays – including the Believe, the Flying Fog and the Tashi.

Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors (BAADS) member Laura Groffman of Oakland sails in a Hansa Liberty sailboat near Pier 30 on Saturday, April 22, 2023 for Saturday Small Boat Sailing near downtown San Francisco, California. Groffman uses a wheelchair for everyday use. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

How about a more hands-on sailing experience, where you steer a boat yourself and get up close and personal with the salt water? More than two dozen dinghies are available on Saturdays, all designed and tested to heel but not tip over in the strongest of winds.

BAADS’ capabilities have evolved greatly since the program first started in Oakland as it operates as the open-water branch of the Lake Merritt Adapted Boating Program. Since then, the organization has trained numerous skippers, sponsored racing teams and hosted national championship races on the bay.

A series of personal donations of converted sailboats—often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars—and grants have helped BAADS stay afloat and allow its more than 200 members and newcomers to feel the freedom of the open water almost every weekend.

“I just leave my disability in the dock with the wheelchair,” Pugh said. “When I’m out there, I’m just so free. It’s just a thrill and a whole different challenge. Being both a Pisces and an adrenaline junkie makes me feel so connected to the water that being able to sail is just wonderful.”

Both sailors and novices come to boating from across the bay, as well as from Fresno and Sacramento, many of whom have never sailed before.

“But we also have a really good core group that’s committed to sailing every weekend that they can,” Pugh said. “One really great thing about sailing is that you can do it if you really want to take it to a new level. Once you start educating yourself and gaining more experience, the world is truly your oyster. It’s really fun to do a sport that’s also intellectually stimulating.”

Cisco Ramos took this to heart and, so to speak, plunged headfirst into several opportunities that he would never have had without BAADS.

As of 2010, Ramos was experiencing symptoms of what was later diagnosed as multiple sclerosis. This eventually forced him to quit his heavy maintenance job in San Francisco and move into his new normal of early retirement.

While the idea of ​​even being on the water used to scare Ramos, a Facebook invite to a BAADS outing eventually pushed him out of his comfort zone — a life-changing decision. Since then he has sailed to Mexico, co-founded Sail MS, managed small boat trips from Richmond Yacht Club and sailed internationally with Oceans of Hope.

Since his first journey with BAADS, sailing has become a source of both mental and physical therapy – helping him settle into a ‘new normal’, find strength and courage, listen to his body’s intuition, connect with the community and find relief from the pain of living with MS.

“I urge myself to go to the docks, get on the boat and sail alone for a while; By the time I head home, all my symptoms are gone,” Ramos said. “A few years ago I had never been on a sailboat and I could barely swim, but when I had the opportunity I was like, ‘What do I have to lose?'”