?On The Water

Making a wheelchair-friendly boat BY ERIN MAGEE emagee@keysreporter.com Posted-Thursday, February 8, 2007 4:48 PM EST Links to: http://www.admiralhsa.org and http://www.tranquiladventures.com. Ever since Bill Gordon and his wife, Susan, started Admiral Dive Center in Key Largo in 1985, they have run dive trips on Admiral 1, a 65-foot dive boat. But when Bill lost his left leg in a scuba tank explosion in March 2000, he had to spend an entire year in rehabilitation. Bill said that by March 2001, he was eager to get back in the water and continue teaching scuba. The experience inspired him to establish Admiral Handicapped Scuba Adventures, Inc. in 2004, a non-profit organization that takes handicapped divers on dive, snorkel, kayak and fishing trips. Bill says the trips give participants ?improved self-image and confidence, opportunity to share social interaction with other divers and dive travel adventures.? The Gordons work with Allen Fiske, the program outreach director, and Michael Nealey, director and founder of Active Disabled Americans and owner of Tranquil Adventures, to involve people with disabilities in activities like diving, snorkeling, kayaking and fishing. Bill Gordon, of Admiral Handicapped Scuba Adventures, Inc., helps Mr. Yuan as he's lowered into the water by a lift aboard the Malesh. Contributed Photos Nealey?s 28-foot pontoon boat, Malesh, is currently the only wheelchair-friendly boat that the group can access. His boat also has a lift that helps handicapped divers enter and exit the water. Nealey says that the normal cost of a half-day boat charter is $250, but he says that he works with groups with special needs to adjust the price to one they can pay. He says that he doesn?t always make enough to cover the expense of taking the boat out, but that he doesn?t mind because he knows that he?s helping people. The Admiral group is trying to raise money to install a lift on the Admiral 1 and to make it wheelchair accessible. The Gordons donated their 31-foot charter boat, the Admiral 2, to the Admiral group, which uses the profits from those boat trips to offset the cost of the Admiral 1 upgrade. Admiral Handicapped Scuba Adventures Inc. will be holding a fundraising event with a cookout and silent auction on March 29 from 2-10 p.m. to fund the Admiral 1 upgrade. The event will be at the Pilot House Marina and Restaurant near mile marker 99.5, oceanside. Fiske said all three boats will be docked at the Marina for attendees to see. The cost is $5 in advance and $7 at the door. The group will also sell 100 tickets for a sit-down dinner at 6:30 p.m. The cost for the dinner is $100 and there will be cash prize drawings where six people will win between $100 and $1,000. More information is available at http://www.admiralhsa.org and http://www.tranquiladventures.com. The Yuan's kayak during a Tranquil Adventure charter.

		Copyright ? 2007, The Reporter, Key Largo, Florida