Two long-standing organisations based on the River Dart joined forces on Disability Awareness Day to showcase a partnership based on facilities and funding, displaying how people with disabilities can access and enjoy the water.
Dart Harbour & Navigation Authority and Dart Sailability teamed up in the centre of Dartmouth to demonstrate the importance of accessible infrastructure on the river, including the Easy Access Pontoon and hoist at Dartmouth’s Town Jetty, highlighting the equipment and support available to make boating more inclusive.
Sailors, trustees and volunteers of Dart Sailability, a Galmpton-based charity which enables anybody with a physical or mental disability to enjoy sailing and boating, sailed down with their large landing craft carrying wheelchair users and others with disabilities. After berthing on the Easy Access Pontoon, the landing craft dropped down its side to embark and disembark the passengers.
The charity, which is run and managed by volunteers, also brought a RIB and small sailing dinghy into which their sailors were hoisted using the public hoist.
Charlie Hindley, a wheelchair user and sailor with Dart Sailability, couldn’t praise the facilities more highly. He said: “It’s so exciting! It gets me out of my wheelchair and to get me into a boat is incredible! I’m learning things from everyone else the whole time – it’s brilliant!”
There was also a momentous ‘first’ – Don Fallon, a Dart Sailability sailor, was hoisted into a Dart Gig Club gig and rowed into the river with the rest of the crew, fulfilling a long-standing ambition of his!
This is the first time the hoist has been used to transfer a passenger to a gig and it’s safe to say that Don loved the experience! He said:
“I’m absolutely thrilled that I was able to get into a gig with Dart Gig Club! The hoist is so strong and capable and it’s fantastic to get out on the water. You forget all about the problems and difficulties as a disabled person and it’s such a tonic to be on the water. I would encourage every disabled people to give it a go.”
Monty Halls, Chairman at Dart Gig Club, was pleased to see the hoist being used to make gig rowing more accessible. He commented: “What a privilege it was to allow the irrepressible Don to realise his ambition to row a gig. We were all profoundly inspired by not just his efforts, but by the other participants who got themselves out on the water to do things we take so readily for granted.
“The team at Dart Sailability, working with Dart Harbour Authority, have pulled off something very special indeed, with the accessible pontoon and new hoist allowing access to watersports on the river for all. With that comes freedom, adventure, and new-found skills. Huge congratulations to everyone, and what a pleasure it was for Dart Gig Club to be involved.”
It was also the perfect opportunity to promote Dart Harbour’s recent commitment to support Dart Sailability with invaluable funding, allocated from the authority’s cruise ship ‘Environmental and Community Fee’, which is charged to all cruise ship passengers visiting the Dart, and which ensures that the whole community feels the benefit of the ships being in port.
Paul Britton, Harbour Master at Dart Harbour & Navigation Authority, said: “We have always been extremely impressed by the work by Dart Sailability, and have been looking at opportunities to help out. Their aims match extremely closely with ours, and it would be a genuine pleasure to provide funding in this way.”
Dart Sailability completed the day by offering free taster sessions to locals and visitors with disabilities – members of the charity Dartmouth Caring had a wonderful trip in the landing craft, which is designed to accommodate two large powered wheelchairs plus other wheelchairs and ambulant sailors and their carers.
Ian Wakeling, Principal of Dart Sailaibility, said: “The event provided us with a great opportunity to publicise the opportunities that we provide for anybody with any form of disability to enjoy boating on the River Dart.
“It was also an opportunity to acknowledge the support provided by Dart Harbour through their generous donation to our ongoing running costs. We are a charity reliant on donations. It costs a lot to keep all our boats on the water so such donations are extremely important in ensuring that we can continue to offer these opportunities to people in the local area.”
The Easy Access Pontoon, partly funded by South Devon National Landscape, and hoist is available for everyone to use – just give the Harbour Office a call in advance to arrange some initial training on the equipment.
