And so it begins... the 35th America's Cup... GO USA! From May 26 through June.
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Free Sailing & Island Demos/Rides
FunToSail will be participating in this years Family Fun Day as a replacement for the past event called the Sail and Paddle Fest. The North Idaho Family Group is the sponsor and organizer of this event which is an Idaho 501(c)3 non profit. It is a membership and program driven group whose mission is “Healthy Families and Life Long Learning.” The NIFG is a backbone organization that will produce the annual Family Day in the Parks event in the spirit of the former collaborative, nonprofit-based Kids Day in the Park, with a greatly expanded venue, schedule of events, audience and opportunities.
Slated to be the last day of school each June, the event will have a steering committee comprised of the lead partners and activity coordinators. It is the goal of the event to provide outreach, revenue generation, public awareness and celebration of all that they do, to each of the participating partners.
Tentative agenda and participants
- FunToSail and sailing club... Free Sailing Rides and Demos
- Paddle craft exhibitions with Kayak Coeur d'Alene and Coeur d'Alene Tribe
- Non profit outreach/activity booths
- Flea Market vendors
- Food Court
- Main stage musicians
- Heritage Commission Inauguration and activities
- Carousel open house and activities, discount rides, photos
- Skate Park groundbreaking and vendors
- Cultural Center Activities
- Community and civic organization displays
- Kids Carnival
- Coeur d’Alene Police Dept outdoor movie night
If you have sailing related questions please contact us via 208-704-4454 or funtosail@gmail.com
For overall event info visit familydaycda.com
Sailing a brand new 2017 Hobie Getaway
Click on pics to enlarge...
Putting the new Getaway together...
Saturday, February 4, 2017
Ice Sailing Report, Sprague Lake, Spokane County
It's been two full months since the first lakes froze, with regular snowfall messing up the surfaces within days of them skimming over. I snuck one day in on Diamond Lake in December before it got dumped on, and I've been scanning the four state area since then for some clear ice, without result. We had three weeks of temps between 0 and 20, which created thicker ice than I've ever seen here around Spokane, followed by three or four days of warm and sunny, which was just barely enough melting to dispose of the snow on Sprague Lake. So when Frank gives me the call, that the weather service is calling for cold, sunny and winds in the high teens, we take that leap of faith, that there MIGHT be a usable surface, and head west. First glance looks discouraging, the whole lake is white, no clear ice at all. But Frank's scouting has discovered four or five inches of refrozen snow atop almost fifteen inches of clear ice, bumpy with one to two inch hard snow drifts. A challenge, to get the boats running fast enough to develop the necessary apparent wind to power thru the crud. But it's blowing fifteen plus, so once we find a smooth patch, the boats leap to speed, delivering the rush that redeems all the suffering delivered by this unforgiving sport! The trick then becomes finding smooth (relatively!) ice at either end of a reach to carve a clean jibe, and nurse her back up to speed. Once there, focus on course, trying to thread between the bigger drifts, looking for the path of least resistance, and working to keep the machine under control. When really booking, we're bouncing across the high points, with the bigger drift launching us free of the surface, clattering back down, requiring quick steering corrections. Between constant sheeting in and out, continuous steering effort, and the non stop gut clenching to deal with the hammering the body is receiving, we're wasted after three hrs on the ice, and we stash the boats in the tules, 'cause the prediction for tomorrow is more of the same!
These are the most brutal conditions the Mini Skeeter has seen so far, and I'm hugely impressed. The new springboard, and the well designed plank absorb shocks very well, and all the hardware and attachment points held up beautifully. I kind of expected the aluminum runner chocks to suffer or loosen up, but a careful inspection post Day 2 revealed nothing loose, other than one runner bolt needs a new nyloc. The surface was about as bad as an icesailor is likely to put up with(desperate folks!), and Scooter came thru shining! Thanks John!!!
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
First sail of the year!
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Crusade for Accessibility
HAYDEN MAN WORKS TO ENSURE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES CAN ENJOY THE OUTDOORS (see link... )
Coeur d'Alene Press (NewsPaper): January 03, 2017 at 5:00 am | By STEVE CAMERON Staff Writer
It's a common description.
When you hear or read about someone working to help people with disabilities, it's pretty routine to find the phrase: “He/she spends a lot of time with those who are less fortunate than themselves.”
Except in the case of local sailing instructor Miles Moore, that sentence wouldn't be correct.
Not even close.
Moore, who has been sailing most of his life and now spends endless hours helping people with disabilities get out on the water, happens to have several disabilities himself.
Talk about being able to relate.
Moore was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and didn't read until he was 14. A disease you really don't want, called otosclerosis, has left him hearing-impaired despite several surgeries. Multiple knee injuries have limited his ability to run and walk properly. And he has been diagnosed as bipolar.
“My disabilities have impacted me in many amazing ways and a few sad ways,” Moore said. “I openly talk about them, because it does no good to overcome things and keep it to yourself.
“Other people gain hope when they know or see others overcome disabilities and find balance.”
MOORE'S problems have been so severe that many people would have given up.
“When I got into college — which was a miracle — I had a fourth-grade reading level,” he said. “My wife (Corine) was my tutor so any academic success goes to her.”
Moore downplays his college achievements, but he has a degree in recreational therapy from the University of Idaho and a masters in vocational rehabilitation counseling.
That education, along with the fact that he grew up in the seaside town of Westport, Wash., — with his mom and dad working as sailing instructors and fish taxidermists — pretty much set the course for Moore's own professional and volunteering life.
Miles and Corine run a sailing equipment shop in Hayden called FunToSail.com, 406 W. Miles Ave., and he earns a living as an instructor — but Moore also puts in endless hours working to get anyone with a disability on the water.
“I soon will be producing trap seats that bolt onto either side of a Hobie 16,” Moore said. “These seats are made specifically for persons with disabilities.
“The trap seat was designed by Mike Strahle, a good friend of mine, who has a spinal cord injury. I will also start to produce Mike's adaptive sailing chair — called the Strahle Chair — that is used in keelboats and that I'm adapting for the Hobie Islands, a sailing kayak I use a lot for my programs as they are the most accessible sailboats on the planet.”
BESIDES working with individuals and groups of future disabled sailors, Moore is conducting a personal battle to make sure there are proper facilities available for anyone who wants to get out on a boat — or even use a local beach.
To that end, he runs a program called Access to Outdoors (www.accesstooutdoors.com), a nonprofit that aims to improve access for everyone.
“It does no good to teach persons with disabilities to sail and kayak if there are no accessible places to launch,” Moore said. “This was a big complaint of my friends and clients with disabilities.
“They would say: ‘Miles, I appreciate what you're doing, but there are no accessible launches.'
“When a person gets into a car accident and suffers a spinal cord injury, for example, then goes through a fabulous rehab program to teach them to ski, handcycle, boat, etc., it's discouraging when they go home and find there are no programs or no access to the outdoors for what they've learned to do.
“Thus, my work with ATO has become very important.”
MOORE insists that, occasionally, the problems with accessibility (including the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane areas) can be downright silly.
“I've gone to assess sites,” he said, “and had engineers tell me they followed all the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) legal measurement requirements. I tell them that's fine, but accessibility goes beyond measurements.
“For example, through a friend with a spinal cord injury I found a restroom that fit all the ADA measurements — but unfortunately there were big rocks around the restroom to protect it from vandalism. The rocks were so close together, it kept people in wheelchairs from getting to the restroom.
“I did get that one fixed by having one of the rocks moved just 12 inches over to create a 48-inch opening.
“Most of the boat launches in this area have real issues with slope. They're just too steep. Others have barriers to their accessible features.
“I actually have had people ask me: ‘If our site is made accessible, will people with disabilities really use the site?' To which I say: ‘If you build it, they will come.'
“There simply is a segment of our population with disabilities that just know that so little is accessible, they just stay home. That's what we're trying to change through ATO.
“The Forest Service in Boundary County did a lot with us last year, and we hope to make at least one site fully accessible. Also, I just met with the Bureau of Land Management to make a new accessible site at the Blackwell Island facility.
“The Blackwell Island site is by far the most accessible in Kootenai County, and I mean by far.”
MOORE is disappointed the city of Coeur d'Alene did not approve the 10th Street Non-Motorized Launch — he suggests some powerful people simply didn't want it in their backyard — but he has no intention of giving up on any project.
He's even willing to praise some areas that are not fully accessible.
“The Honeysuckle launch (at Hayden Lake) doesn't give persons with wheelchairs direct access to the water, but when it comes to boating, it does really well in facilitating a person getting to his boat.”
Moore intends to remain relentless in this crusade for accessibility — and for a very simple reason that he states as a question.
“Why shouldn't someone with a disability enjoy the same accessibility to boating or anything else that other people get to do?”
To Moore, the answer to that is pretty obvious.
Coeur d'Alene Press (NewsPaper): January 03, 2017 at 5:00 am | By STEVE CAMERON Staff WriterIt's a common description.
When you hear or read about someone working to help people with disabilities, it's pretty routine to find the phrase: “He/she spends a lot of time with those who are less fortunate than themselves.”
Except in the case of local sailing instructor Miles Moore, that sentence wouldn't be correct.
Not even close.
Moore, who has been sailing most of his life and now spends endless hours helping people with disabilities get out on the water, happens to have several disabilities himself.
Talk about being able to relate.
Moore was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and didn't read until he was 14. A disease you really don't want, called otosclerosis, has left him hearing-impaired despite several surgeries. Multiple knee injuries have limited his ability to run and walk properly. And he has been diagnosed as bipolar.
“My disabilities have impacted me in many amazing ways and a few sad ways,” Moore said. “I openly talk about them, because it does no good to overcome things and keep it to yourself.
“Other people gain hope when they know or see others overcome disabilities and find balance.”
MOORE'S problems have been so severe that many people would have given up.
“When I got into college — which was a miracle — I had a fourth-grade reading level,” he said. “My wife (Corine) was my tutor so any academic success goes to her.”
Moore downplays his college achievements, but he has a degree in recreational therapy from the University of Idaho and a masters in vocational rehabilitation counseling.
That education, along with the fact that he grew up in the seaside town of Westport, Wash., — with his mom and dad working as sailing instructors and fish taxidermists — pretty much set the course for Moore's own professional and volunteering life.
Miles and Corine run a sailing equipment shop in Hayden called FunToSail.com, 406 W. Miles Ave., and he earns a living as an instructor — but Moore also puts in endless hours working to get anyone with a disability on the water.
“I soon will be producing trap seats that bolt onto either side of a Hobie 16,” Moore said. “These seats are made specifically for persons with disabilities.
“The trap seat was designed by Mike Strahle, a good friend of mine, who has a spinal cord injury. I will also start to produce Mike's adaptive sailing chair — called the Strahle Chair — that is used in keelboats and that I'm adapting for the Hobie Islands, a sailing kayak I use a lot for my programs as they are the most accessible sailboats on the planet.”
BESIDES working with individuals and groups of future disabled sailors, Moore is conducting a personal battle to make sure there are proper facilities available for anyone who wants to get out on a boat — or even use a local beach.
To that end, he runs a program called Access to Outdoors (www.accesstooutdoors.com), a nonprofit that aims to improve access for everyone.
“It does no good to teach persons with disabilities to sail and kayak if there are no accessible places to launch,” Moore said. “This was a big complaint of my friends and clients with disabilities.
“They would say: ‘Miles, I appreciate what you're doing, but there are no accessible launches.'
“When a person gets into a car accident and suffers a spinal cord injury, for example, then goes through a fabulous rehab program to teach them to ski, handcycle, boat, etc., it's discouraging when they go home and find there are no programs or no access to the outdoors for what they've learned to do.
“Thus, my work with ATO has become very important.”
MOORE insists that, occasionally, the problems with accessibility (including the Coeur d'Alene and Spokane areas) can be downright silly.
“I've gone to assess sites,” he said, “and had engineers tell me they followed all the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) legal measurement requirements. I tell them that's fine, but accessibility goes beyond measurements.
“For example, through a friend with a spinal cord injury I found a restroom that fit all the ADA measurements — but unfortunately there were big rocks around the restroom to protect it from vandalism. The rocks were so close together, it kept people in wheelchairs from getting to the restroom.
“I did get that one fixed by having one of the rocks moved just 12 inches over to create a 48-inch opening.
“Most of the boat launches in this area have real issues with slope. They're just too steep. Others have barriers to their accessible features.
“I actually have had people ask me: ‘If our site is made accessible, will people with disabilities really use the site?' To which I say: ‘If you build it, they will come.'
“There simply is a segment of our population with disabilities that just know that so little is accessible, they just stay home. That's what we're trying to change through ATO.
“The Forest Service in Boundary County did a lot with us last year, and we hope to make at least one site fully accessible. Also, I just met with the Bureau of Land Management to make a new accessible site at the Blackwell Island facility.
“The Blackwell Island site is by far the most accessible in Kootenai County, and I mean by far.”
MOORE is disappointed the city of Coeur d'Alene did not approve the 10th Street Non-Motorized Launch — he suggests some powerful people simply didn't want it in their backyard — but he has no intention of giving up on any project.
He's even willing to praise some areas that are not fully accessible.
“The Honeysuckle launch (at Hayden Lake) doesn't give persons with wheelchairs direct access to the water, but when it comes to boating, it does really well in facilitating a person getting to his boat.”
Moore intends to remain relentless in this crusade for accessibility — and for a very simple reason that he states as a question.
“Why shouldn't someone with a disability enjoy the same accessibility to boating or anything else that other people get to do?”
To Moore, the answer to that is pretty obvious.
Sunday, December 25, 2016
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)