Disabled veterans treated to a day of sailing in Oxnard

At least 57 boats set sail in the Channel Islands Harbor on Sunday with special guests on board–they took disabled veterans with them.

The annual event hosted by the Channel Islands Yacht Club is run by Bill Brayton who created the Disabled Veterans Sail Day nonprofit to keep it going.

“It turns out, it is this great therapy session. It is incredible,” said Brayton.

Some of the veterans have post-traumatic stress disorder, others are in wheelchairs.

Brayton, who is not a veteran, gets choked up when he talks about how much this day means to veterans and volunteers.

“It is all about the vets and man, what a beautiful day,” said Brayton.

The location was transformed to look a bit like the set of the TV show “Mash.”

That was OK with Lenton Glasgow, the paratrooper, used to jump out of airplanes and spent decades working as a television stuntman.

He has sailed before and chose to just hang out on Sunday.

A nonprofit called Help Heal the Veterans offered the men and women therapeutic craft kits. They included model boats, tanks, and airplanes.

Veteran Kate Gould chose to sail. She said there was plenty of wind when they sailed out toward the Channel Islands. She plans to come back again next year.

Mark Pierce has been volunteering for years. He took a boat full of veterans out on his Catalina 47 named Dragon Rider.

After their day on the water, veterans enjoyed a Barbeque and they made sure to save memorial place at the table for POWs and the troops who never made it home from war zones.

For more information email Bill Brayton at bbrayton@atra.com.