start here and then...

Thanks to the efforts of all of you, things are beginning to happen. After fasterbarnacle was forwarded to a friend, they forwarded it to one of their friends, who in turn forwarded to one of theirs who turned out to be a sailor. A couple of weeks ago that person contacted me and on Monday I went to see his boat, a J 35 racer named "the red dress".This isn't the boat that will get me from New Zealand to Australia or Australia to Fiji, but it's a very important first step. The owner is a great guy who began thinking outside the box the moment after we spoke on the phone; brainstorming as to what would make the vessel quad friendly and thus suitable for some blue water sails. He also offered to fix up the dreess' remote controlso that I could work the tiller and do some sailing myself. Pretty cool and entirely unexpected.At the very least, the boat will be suitable for some sails out on the San Francisco Bay and beyond the Golden Gate. After that, if it seems as though it would work for something longer and more adventurous then he's offered to sail with us to Hawaii in June. Such a voyage would be a great introduction into what open ocean sailing would be all about. The experience my buddy T and I would gain would be invaluable. We'd learn not only what it would take to do this from the disability perspective (my personal needs, etc.), but how we could participate as a functioning unit in the sailing process itself.If you asked me to script a better beginning to this whole dream of mine I don't think I could. It's a beautiful way to start and it's awesome to see it taking shape. Big mahalos to all of you for your continuing support and help.