Our stay at Punta Gorda; As we approached the mooring field we came upon about 30 small sailboats in the area we had to cross. There were several larger boats with them as well as smaller runabouts. Thankfully they passed by before we arrived. We were the only boat in the mooring field which surprised us for thirteen dollars a night. It was a short dingy ride to the marina dingy dock and the marina was buzzing with activity. A few of those one man sailboats were coming in. some with an escort boat, now I was really curious. There were sailboats tied up all along the small dock, lots of people, and several large tents along the shore. Obviously it was some type of regatta, I thought but why do so many of the boats have escort boats? We found a small spot and tied up. As we passed the sailboats they had names of countries on the side of them and there were wheel chairs at the end of some of the docks. The marina was hosting the National Para-Olympic single man sailboat races! How awesome is that? I was really excited and in awe of the strength, agility and attitude these men and women had. I was also impressed with the ingenuity that went into the retrofitting of these boats. One morning we witnessed one of the sailors in his wet suit scoot off the dock and into the water and proceed to scrub down the outside of his boat. It just goes to show you that you are only as handicapped as you allow yourself to be!
We tootled around Punta Gorda on the free loaner bikes the marina had, checking out the downtown area and fisherman's village. Fisherman's Village is filled with shops and resturants. It was an enjoyable stay, the staff at the marina are wonderful and everything is in walking distance or a bike ride away.
One of the sailboats competing in the Paraolympics
Be sure to look closely at the adaptations made for the sailors
All the flags from the nations competing
One of the bridges that we had to wait for
Waiting for the swing bridge to open
All by ourselves in the mooring field
The USA team boat
A competitor and his escort
