“The art of sailing knows no obstacles” is a beautiful report by Graciela Carlos for Faro de Vigo about our Adapted Sailing School. A report that was born from the experience of going out to sea, for two days, with the boys and girls from associations for the disabled who come to the club to sail around the bay. An unforgettable experience, as he told us at the end. This is how he lived it, wrote it and recorded it:
November 2014. Calm sea, light breeze and a few rays of sun shining through a curtain of white clouds. It is the first time that my feet enter a sailing boat . I meet the rest of the crew, they introduce themselves, making me, a few hours later, another friend. At eleven o’clock in the morning our protagonists are ready to teach me the art of sailing. Not without first putting a requirement on myself: that I don’t forget the vest. They are very demanding with security and, honestly, it surprises me. Heading out to sea they begin to teach me technicalities : the ropes I see are not ropes, but ropes. Marcos reveals to me how a corporal and Javier can handle the rudder, telling me over and over again that you can’t lose sight of the front when you’re in command.
Little by little, I am getting into their lives, they have no qualms about telling everything that goes through their heads. Andrea tells me over and over again that she is a gossip. I am stunned. I thought I was the curious one for asking them all kinds of information. She does not stop talking during the crossing and confesses that she has a boyfriend and that she has had to go to the doctor. Antonio , for his part, tells me that years ago he worked at a gas station. David walks me through the Real Madrid squad, listing each of the players. Each one tells me their own story in which I perceive a common point: their passion for the sea.
It’s time to put all your energy into sailing and get the sailboat moving. All to their positions and each one of them with their position. All of them are just as important as the one next to them since they have to fulfill their mission for the ship to sail. These crew members taught me that with effort, desire and perseverance, we can achieve everything we set out to do, since they themselves have been able to stand up to the barriers , managing to undo them as if by magic. Do they make me rethink an idea that I later verify as real? We are the ones who impose barriers on ourselves, sometimes, even without having them.
In this case, we are talking about disability , a much broader term than the excuses that any of us make as a “barrier” . Each of them, with their limitations, enjoy the air and the breeze that the ocean gives them, carrying out one of their many dreams. They have succeeded . Barriers are not for them.
A club “without barriers”
In 2012, the Monte Real Yacht Club fulfilled the dream of these crew members. Without skimping on conditions or the disabilities of any person. Through their Adapted Sailing School , they organize bi-weekly outings to the sea for people with physical, mental, sensory or intellectual disabilities.
An activity that allows the different associations to bring the sea closer to its users, to enjoy a sport that brings them countless benefits, both physical and social. With this, they achieve greater mobility, balance and control of their body, as well as potential social skills.
Since its launch, several associations of people with disabilities in the region have carried out activities in the club, which has been growing thanks to the support of companies and institutions such as Fundación Repsol , Iberdrola or Abanca . They are the Encaixamos del Val Miñor Association, the students of the Juan María de Nigrán Center and the Avelaíña de Gondomar group.
