Posted on 03/10/2004 11:25:53 AM PST by Senormechanico
This is from a friend of mine. SM --------
The following article was published last week in the local paper. My father and brother are both people that have lived very difficult and challenging lives, and yet, have risen far above their trials. As indicated earlier, I wish I could say that I inherited that gene. I am very proud to have a father and a brother that have exceeded so many obstacles and have lived such full and complete lives, despite their challenges. They continue to be an inspiration to me! Please take a few minutes and help them.
This may seem minor to many of you, but please help them get their 12" buoy!! It will only take a couple of minutes!!
Article follows:
Wednesday, March 3, 2004 Vol. 115 No. 10
County wants buoys out of Inner Harbor
Shirley, Del and Greg Jacobs of Port Ludlow like to go sailing in their 33-foot trimaran Shadowfax. Jefferson County is attempting to revoke a buoy permit that the family says would make it easier for Greg Jacobs, a quadriplegic, to board the boat. Two other families also hope to keep their buoys. Photo by Barney Burke
Retired general, quadriplegic son just want to sail
By Barney Burke Leader Staff Writer
Greg Jacobs has been an athlete and a pioneer for all of his 44 years. In the early days of windsurfing, he was a designer, tester and team rider for O'Brien Sailboards, spending his weekends as one of the very first tearing up the Columbia Gorge. Years after becoming a quadriplegic, Greg was still featured in Windsurfing Magazine as one of the pioneers of the sport. Before that, he was a distinguished high school swimming and track athlete, and then a world class skier, says his father, 72-year-old Del Jacobs of Port Ludlow. A skiing accident in 1982 made Greg a quadriplegic, but for the most part, it didn't change who he is and Greg still loves to sail. Getting into the boat is the hard part. That's why Greg and his father hope they can keep the family trimaran in Port Ludlow's Inner Harbor, despite Jefferson County orders to remove the boat's 12" mooring buoy.
Greg doesn't want to keep the buoy because he's unwilling to make adjustments. On the contrary, he helps out at his daughters' school and his wife's business. On Fridays, when it's his turn to drive the van pool for six kids, it takes him about two minutes to catapult himself from a wheelchair into the driver's seat using only his head and what limited function he has in his arms. Then he disassembles the wheelchair and places it into the front seat. Using a special lever that controls the gas and brake pedals, he's ready to go before passengers can find their seatbelts.
Greg and his wife have a couple of small sailboats and kayaks at their home in Silverdale, WA. Trained as an engineer, he designed and built a rickshaw that helps him board those boats when the tide goes out. The sailboats have hydrofoils for better stability, and the kayaks also have improvements designed and installed by Greg. A fan of multi-hulled vessels since high school, Greg especially enjoys crewing his parent's trimaran. The Shadowfax is a 33-foot, "F-33," designed by New Zealand's Ian Farrier.
Boarding a boat is a lot harder than getting into a minivan, but it's just the kind of challenge that father and son love to tackle. Shadowfax is currently moored at a neighbor's dock, and Del brings it around to the marina so Greg can board. Frequently, the tide is such that Greg can't safely descend the ramp to the boat. Another problem is that the wake from passing vessels makes it a lot more treacherous for him to hurl himself onto the vessel as it bobs and sways. The Jacobs' preferred solution is to have a 12" buoy in the Inner Harbor, just a stone's throw from home. Greg could then board from their muddy backyard beach after descending an elaborate ramp from the house and employing his rickshaw solution -- or he could even use a dinghy to take advantage of the calmer waters in the Inner Harbor.
So Del Jacobs set out to get a buoy permit. He convinced the Ludlow Point Village homeowners association to change its deed restrictions to allow floats and buoys. He obtained the needed permits from two state agencies and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He then obtained a permit from Jefferson County. But last month, the county began proceedings to force removal of their approved buoy -- after realizing they violated their own prohibition on buoys in the Inner Harbor. For now, it's just one challenge that Del and Greg haven't been able to overcome. Yet, Del Jacobs has invested more than $200,000 in the first-of-its-kind boat, not to mention a stone-lined wheelchair ramp from the house to the beach.
More importantly, Del wants to enjoy his golden years with his family. It's hard to escape the observation that Greg Jacobs is a chip off the block, for Del Jacobs has not led an ordinary life. Del grew up along the Hood Canal, helping his parents clear 14 acres and build a homestead. He started skiing at the age of 9 and ultimately, trained as an alternate for the U.S. 1952 Olympic ski team. Shortly thereafter, he accepted an appointment to West Point where he won the Eisenhower award for outstanding leadership and discipline, the outstanding athlete award, and also graduated 4rd in his academic class. In 1956, Del and Shirley got married. Their honeymoon plan, he admits, was entirely his idea: a 50-mile hike and camp in the Olympic Mountains. "I'm still paying for that," he says of his wife of 48 years.
After attending graduate school at Cal Tech and teaching as a professor at the Air Force Academy, Del became a fighter test pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He flew 169 F-4 combat missions as a squadron commander in the Vietnam War. Eventually, Del rose to the rank of brigadier general, playing senior Air Force program management roles in the development of the F-15 and F-16 fighter planes which are still in service today. However, Del walked away from his Air Force career, after Greg's traumatic accident. "I just decided my priorities were with my family," he says. Del accepted an executive management position at Northrop, heading up prototype design of the steathly advanced tactical fighter (ATF). He retired in 1995 and moved into the waterfront, Port Ludlow, ski-chalet-style home that he designed. In 1997, just after the home was completed, his health was seriously challenged by an aggressive stage 4 cancer. Having endured surgery and experimental treatment, Del is one of the very few success stories in his form of cancer. At one point, the avid outdoorsman was down to 118 pounds, but that didn't keep him from going on his annual ski trips with his old West Point buddies. And chemotherapy be damned - Del is skiing again this week.
Told that he seems like a pretty remarkable person, Del is hardly willing to acknowledge any of his own achievements. "My son," rasps the old general, "is a better man than I am." (Contact Barney Burke at bburke@ptleader.com.)
This is discrimination. If the buoys have to go, so do the gulls!
<.g,d,r>
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