He Sails Into Life
I just read the most interesting article in Cruising World, about a man who sails with his family aboard a sailboat named, Cotton Valley. What makes this story unique is that the man suffers from retinitus pigmentosis, a degenerative eye disease that causes a constriction of the visual field. Over the past few years his sight has diminished to totally blindness. I would be afraid to sail with full sight ability let alone sail as a blind person.
John Berg has always loved sailing and talked his wife into giving up their home in Flagstaff, Arizona to live on Cotton Valley in the harbor at Ventura, California. Now the entire family that includes their 11 year old daughter and a German Shepherd guide dog live on the sailboat. Oh, I almost forgot that Chumsley the hamster was also aboard. They have ventured out to sea, traveling from Ventura to Santa Cruz.
Check out the article written by Susan Cooper-Berg in the June 2008 issue of Cruising World.
I found the story fascinating and admire John for his undetered lifestyle.
