A new gust to the sails

June Casagrande

For Tom Tolbert, the hardest part was admitting that he needed help,

that he had a handicap. After all, he was a veteran sailor with 30 years’

experience piloting Southern California waters. He was a former stuntman,

a successful software executive and an accomplished athlete. But the

brain aneurysm that left him partially handicapped in 1996 also left him

at a loss at sea.

For the darkest days after the crippling injury and long recovery, the

joy of sailing seemed lost forever.

Then Tolbert heard about Sailing Fascination, a Newport Beach

nonprofit that offers basic sailing instruction. His yearning for the sea

won out over his refusal to admit he needed help the minute he stepped

aboard for his first lesson.Now he’s the one giving lessons to other

disabled people.

“You have to get past your anger at being handicapped,” he said. “But

when the people who were running the organization back then found out I

knew about sailing, I got the opportunity to trade my time teaching for

time out on the boat.”

More than 300 people with a range of physical limitations have taken

the course aboard the organization’s boat, also named Sailing

Fascination.

“The idea is that they are experienced boat drivers by the time they

leave us,” Tolbert said. “The four-week program is really about them

spending time at the tiller. They learn about wind, they learn about

right-of-way, they learn the basics of safety and the basics of sailing.”

Jack Hester, a Newport Beach resident who survived polio and a

medication-related deafness, pilots the boat. Both men work as

volunteers. The group gets its dock space at Balboa Basin for free from

the city of Newport Beach. Financial support from the California

Department of Boating and Waterways covers costs such as insurance and

boat maintenance.

“I get to spend all this time out on the water helping people,” said

Tolbert, 53. “Seeing people smile that ordinarily would not have access

to a boat makes volunteering worthwhile.”

FYI

For more information or enrollment in Sailing Fascination, call (949)

640-1678.