Sail with Us!

Would you like to dedicate a sail to someone you know who could use a beautiful day on the water? Are you a corporation or small firm that would like to offer sailing opportunities to your employees and their friends and families who may benefit from a day of respite? Please check out the many ways you get involved and “sail with us!”

Individual Gift

Gift an afternoon of sailing for one person that you care for and two of their guests. The package includes a Sailing Heals cruising kit for each guest and lunch at a nearby yacht club or marina-side restaurant. $250. + $50. per additional guest. This “gift” may also be used as a sail honoring a loved one who has passed away. Please see the “Gifts” section of the website for adding a burgee w/ your loved ones name embroidered on it.

Corporate Sponsors

Corporate Sponsors may choose to bring employees, clients or VIP guests out on the water on a seasonal basis. A perfect example of this is Founding Sponsor Officine Panerai, a high-end Italian watch brand, which annually sponsors the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge in Marblehead, Nantucket and Newport. Panerai has chosen to sponsor Sailing Heals in order to “give back” to the communities that host the classic yacht regattas every year. They also view this as an effective way to introduce the Brand to a new category of Buyer, and an ideal way to generate goodwill and press for classic sailing overall.

A local bank, insurance company, or successful restaurant is an ideal small business to support and give back to the community in this way, just as a large corporation could be.

Sailing seasons vary regionally. Please allow a minimum of two weeks for the coordination of the sail and plan on scheduling a rain date. Sails typically last 2-hours depending on weather conditions and the health & comfort preferences of our guests. Lunch typically lasts 1-hour and can be scheduled before or after the sail based on client preferences. Once a sail has been confirmed and paid for, no refunds may be extended.

 

"Message in a Bottle" - VIP Guest Sailing Experiences

We welcome all of our VIP Guests and Host Captains to share their experiences and reflections on their day at sea with Sailing Heals. To submit your own photos and memories, click the "add comments" link below.

 

Comments

My experience

Submitted by Kimberley H. Molleur (not verified) on Mon, 2012-10-15 22:51.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer August 2010.  Chemo, surgery, more chemo, then radiation...All out of my hands.  No control.  I handed it over to my oncologists and their team....I did what they told me to do.  I had a great support system.  My husband and my sister we my rocks...my friends we right behind them.  I did it...I finished March 2012.  I still go for follow up appoints...I am still a patient.  A hard thing for a nurse to have to say...then one day I got an email from my chemo nurse Barbara.  It was some thing about sailing...I read it quickly...then reread it again slowly....I filled out the application.  Then, a couple weeks later I heard from Trisha!!!  There were sailing days...was I available?  

That beautiful day my husband and I drove to Marion harbor I will remember always.  We met wonderful people and ate a great lunch looking at the beautiful boats...then we got to get on one of them.  I had never been on a sail boat.  It was.....beautiful.  The silence and the peace ovewhelmed me at one point...actually more than once.  Then Captain Chuck said here you go Kim....and then was driving the boat!!!  What!?!?  Yup I was...

Never have I done anything like that.  Having spent almost two years with no control, to be able to be in control of this beautiful sail boat...it was so empowering!  I felt wonderful!!!  I was in control!  Take that cancer!!

Thank  you Sailing Heals!!!

Thank you for these marvelous

Submitted by Trisha Boisvert (not verified) on Fri, 2012-11-16 23:48.

Thank you for these marvelous comments! It was so great enjoying sails on beautiful breezy days with you, Kim & Rod. You are so strong and so powerful, Kim, having come through this experience with your wonderful sense of humor in tact! It is clear that your natural love of life has just grown through the ups and downs and you appreciate the "ups" more than ever. Thank you, too, Kim, for the very real and touching comments you shared at our recent Blues Brunch. After you and Terry spoke there wasn't a dry eye in the house. You both made it an extra special day! Wishing you smooth sailing ahead and looking forward to keeping in touch!

Thank you from Programs in Womens Oncology

Submitted by Diane Thompson (not verified) on Wed, 2012-09-26 12:38.

 

 

How do we began to thank you for your vision  Sailing Heals and your ability to make it a reality, that benefit our patients at the Program In Womens Oncology . To witness the pure joy and exhilaration felt by the patients onboard Madeleine was nothing short of a miracle .

The Program In Womens Oncolgy is honored to be of service to your vision .

Diane Thomoson, LICSW, Women & Infants Hospital, Rhode Island

Sailing with Sailing Heals in Antigua and Nantucket

Submitted by Mylissa Tsai (not verified) on Wed, 2012-06-27 14:59.

In 2007, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Clinically, I endured a year of the standard course of surgery, chemo, radiation treatments and oral drugs.  Emotionally, I experienced a year of extreme peaks and nadirs.  So, when I was diagnosed again this past March, I actually felt stronger…stronger because of personal experience and stronger because of Sailing Heals.

I joined Sailing Heals as a board member last year at the request of my lifelong mentor Michele Gallagher, who is the PR Director of Panerai and our founding corporate sponsor.  I never thought I would also serve on Sailing Heals as a patient again.

 

Sailing Heals team photo (from L to R) Board Member Chris Harris, Executive Director Trisha Boisvert, Board Members Mylissa Tsai and Tim Howes at Panerai’s sailing season kickoff event in NYC on May 23, 2012.

 

Since March, I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of sailing with Sailing Heals in Antigua and Nantucket.  How often does a city gal like me get to go sailing? 

Happiness is being on a spectator boat to watch the Panerai Classic Yacht Regatta in Antigua. 

For anyone who has never gone sailing, it is truly one of life’s most amazing luxuries.  Imagine a cool breeze under the sun that lifts your spirits.  Or, how about a sudden gust of wind that tilts the boat followed by the orchestral crew working to stabilize the deck?  Seeing the horizon with complete clarity puts all of life’s many questions in perspective.    

On its apparel and gifts to VIPs, Panerai inscribes, “Life offers many difficulties in exchange for a few moments of happiness.  These moments are worth a lifetime: the same is true of the sea.”  I wholeheartedly agree. 

Whether it’s cancer, a chronic illness or loss of a loved one, we need support.  We don’t need to do it alone.  We are blessed to have another way to celebrate life through the healing powers of the sea.  I’d like raise a burgee for the following VIPs in my life:

·      My family and my dog Tobey: They make me smile every day. 

·      My friends: They listen to my struggles about life, triathlons, and everything else.  They still think I’m cool and put up with me.  They are my rock. They are smart, funny and awesome.  They make me want to become a better woman.

·      My employer and my colleagues at IBM: They told me it was my job to get better and that’s all that counts. 

 

My work for Sailing Heals is not about me.  It’s about giving memorable experiences for those who have been sick and commemorating those who have passed.   

Michele Gallagher of Panerail and Emily Taylor of Nantucket Community Boating raise the Sailing Heals burgee from Nantucket Harbor for my first sailing lesson this past June. 

Beautiful Blog

Submitted by Jenna Gabrial Gallagher (not verified) on Mon, 2012-07-02 13:27.

What a great and inspiring blog, My! Thanks to you and to the entire Sailing Heals team for all the amazing work you are doing.

Thank you Mylissa

Submitted by Michele Gallagher (not verified) on Wed, 2012-08-22 21:06.

Mylissa, thank you for sharing your story, your support and your talents with the Sailing Heals family. But especially thank you for lending inspiration to all of us! We love you and we're very proud of your courage and determination and relieved to know you are getting healthier and healthier every day! <3, MJG