Accessible Boating for All: CRAB Sailing on the Chesapeake Bay

Boating is not only meant for those who live luxuriously — in fact, the sea has therapeutic benefits and healing powers fit for anyone. Located in the nation’s sailing capital of Annapolis, MD, Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) offers interactive and therapeutic opportunities and facilities designed for people with disabilities. CRAB’s programs serve youth, adults and veterans with any disability such as Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness, autism, PTSD and much more.

“Just because you have a disability, it doesn’t mean you’ve lost the appetite or interest in getting out on the Bay — because it is so peaceful, calm and beautiful,” says CRAB President Paul “Bo” Bollinger. “It just puts you in an environment that’s quite different from what your everyday life is like.”

For more than 30 years, CRAB operated from Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis with just a single pier, small parking lot and one picnic table. It has since grown and moved to a new six-million-dollar waterfront facility in the heart of the Eastport neighborhood with state-of-the-art equipment and cutting-edge technology. CRAB’s unique property is not only one of the country’s premier accessible boating facilities, but programs are also completely free thanks to annual fundraising efforts.

Bollinger originally worked to help create the Wounded Warriors Sailing Regatta in 2012 which led him to connect with CRAB Founder Don Backe who provided boats for the regatta. After Backe passed, Bollinger joined the board of directors in 2015 and became executive director in 2016. Together with his wife, who worked in non-profits including the Medal of Honor Foundation, Bollinger continued to grow CRAB into the thriving organization it is today.

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WHERE INNOVATION MEETS INCLUSION

Guests can enjoy the new Adaptive Boating Center featuring a 16-slip floating dock with 80-foot T-head pier, adaptive boarding equipment with lifts and transfer slides, plus an open-air pavilion. The OPB (Other People's Boat) Lift allows boat owners to make reservations to have trained staff board disabled gusts onto their boat. This service is provided for a small fee and is open to any boater needing specialized equipment to board a family member or guest.

At the heart of the boating center, the Don Backe Learning Center facility provides year-round education and training programs. The 100% adaptive facility boasts top-notch technology including hearing-assist equipment, an 85-inch QLED TV with transcriptions, audio/visuals with video subtitles, plus five accessible restrooms and a shower. The eight-foot-wide, IPE wood marina has electric lifts built into the dock and transfer boxes that easily slide guests from wheelchairs into the boats, as well as racecar bucket seats with four-point harness belts.

The Adaptive Boating Center is also available for rent and offers a gorgeous waterfront banquet space with a kitchen, parking lot and full ADA-standard facilities, perfect for weddings, meetings and any party.

Opportunities include everything from family adaptive fishing programs to sailing clinics such as Group Sailing, where CRAB works with other non-profits like the Maryland School for the Blind and the Montgomery County Stroke Association. CRAB also hosts summer camps sponsored by Annapolis City or Anne Arundel County Police, where resource officers sail with kids and build bonds on a two-day sailing cruise.

The facility even offers a fleet of radio-controlled sailboats for racing, so if someone doesn’t want to leave the dock, they can still take part in the fun.

“ADA is just minimum standards — we exceed those standards,” says Bollinger. “I just love being with people who really appreciate what we do, and it just makes you want to do it more often — and better.”

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UPCOMING SUMMER EVENTS

Be sure to check out upcoming summer events including two regattas for recovering warriors: Backe Memorial CRAB Regatta hosted by the Annapolis Yacht Club on June 21, and the CRAB Cup at Eastport Yacht Club on August 16. CRAB is also excited to host a Special Olympics event for Maryland and Virginia September 5-7. Learn more at crabsailing.org