Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) strives to provide equitable access to recreational sailing for individuals with disabilities across Anne Arundel County. Their new Adaptive Boating Center is ADA compliant and permits CRAB to expand their community outreach.
Founded in 1991, CRAB began as the result of Don Backe’s journey to provide accessible recreational opportunities for people like himself. After suffering a car accident that prevented him from full mobility, Backe worked with friends and family to regain access to sailing. From then on, he knew he would dedicate himself to bettering the lives of people with disabilities through recreational sailing.
CRAB offers Family Sails for free one Sunday and one Thursday afternoon each month in which people with and without disabilities share the same experience–working as a team to create new and rewarding experiences that serve to enhance family bonds. CRAB also partners with other community support organizations, such as Paralyzed Veterans of America, Walter Reed and others dedicated to the service of recovering and disabled veterans to arrange group sails throughout the sailing season. In 2024 CRAB introduced a new power catamaran for Adaptive Fishing, a therapeutic fishing program developed with collaboration of local fishing experts and CRAB volunteers to offer the same high standards guests have come to expect from all CRAB programs.
For more information about CRAB, visit their website. For general inquiries, visit their Contact webpage. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit their Volunteer page.
