Author: Gene Rodgers
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Sailing – Australia
My First Tall-Ship Encounter. She is a 30 meter, single rigged top gallant brigantine with seven fore-aft sails and three square sails. I learned a lesson about wheelchairs that tip easily and ships that pitch, yawl, roll or otherwise move in three dimensions. Years later, I had a friend make me some sea-legs that attach…
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Sailing – UK
Sailing in the Inventure 2000 designed by Trevor – a 60 feet wheelchair accessible sailboat that uses airfoil wing propulsion system
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Parasailing
New Zealand, Parasailing. Para-sailing is more of a novelty activity rather than a sport. Although it is possible for people with disabilities to para-sail in the U.S., it is much easier to do so in other countries, as other countries are far less litigious. There were 5 of us on the boat. I was the…
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Sailplaning 2
My friend John and I went sailplaning with the Fault Line Flyers in Briggs, Texas for a 2nd time. This time I flew in what is known as the Grob (pronounced grobe), pictured above. This is a high performance sailplane. It has perhaps a 30/1 glide ratio, which means for every 30 feet of forward…
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Sailplaning
Sailplaning, September 2007. My friend John and I went sailplaning with the Fault Line Flyers in Briggs, Texas. In the picture above, I’m sitting in the cockpit, Vince is behind me and Tom is holding up the end of the wing as we are being towed. Before we see the rest of the pictures, it’s…
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Sky Diving
I was the first wheelchair user that went skydiving in Belen. I jumped on two separate occasions from a 1943 World War II bomber trainer from an altitude of 15,000 feet with my instructor, Chris Salas. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving probably isn’t for you.
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Cliff Climbing
Climbing a 13-A cliff in my wheelchair in New Mexico using a custom made harness.
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Things to Think About
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Poems
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Favorites
Scroll down to read a collection of some of my favorite poems, quotes, and anecdotes!