For anyone with a love of the water, traveling the world by sailboat is a dream.  Standing on the bow of the boat, feet warm on the deck, sun and wind striking your face, brings pure joy. To be able to see the world in this fashion is an incredible privilege.

Living a Dream Despite Disability
Sherri Backstrom lives that dream 3-4 months of the year in the Caribbean and the Sea of Cortez. While “incrementally seeing the world” piece by piece with fiancé Don, she runs Waypoint Charters, a yacht brokering company based in Bellingham, Wash. specializing in accessible sailboats.

Waypoint was the brainchild of disability and determination: Sherri’s response when her disability, Charcot Marie Tooth (CMT), reached a point where standing all day became impossible. Sherri was diagnosed at age 23 during her second pregnancy when her symptoms of drop foot and increased tingling in her extremities manifested. 

Bionic Feet- Dealing with Drop Foot
CMT is a neuromuscular disease similar to MS. For many years, Sherri tried to manage her symptoms through natural techniques such as exercise and vitamin treatments while enduring other unsuccessful treatments suggested by various doctors. After many years and a broken foot brought on by stumbling, Sherri saw a specialist who changed her life. Dr. Hansen, a neurologist, performed a surgery on Sherri’s feet and hands that gave her ‘bionic feet’ and the opportunity to reconsider, literally, her next steps.

Not wanting to waste this gift of new feet, Sherri decided a career change was in order. Knowing that she definitely didn’t want to work a desk job, Sherri researched her options and followed a friend’s suggestion to become a yacht broker, which would involve travel to various seas and oceans to research yachts, locations, and crews.  Who could resist?

In her career as an accessible yacht broker, Sherri is essentially a matchmaker, bringing together people and the boats that will meet their needs (and passions).  In the same way, her business has allowed her to bring together her passion for sailing with her need to have rewarding, sustaining work. Sherri is grateful where life has landed her.

“I had to change careers with my condition,” she points out. “I feel really fortunate that I was able to find a career that lined up with my life and my passion.”

Paying it Forward
Sherri began her business with no funding from outside sources. “I always knew there was money out there for me, but I thought there were probably people who deserved it more than I did.” Over the 3 years since starting the business, Sherri has dropped a great deal of her own money on Waypoint. It took a paradigm shift for Sherri to ask for help from the outside.

That paradigm shift came in three forms: partner Don, the passion to succeed, and embracing the concept of ‘paying it forward.’

First, Don pushed her to acknowledge her disability and encouraged her to push the business outside of the box. Second, “I know that most under-funded businesses fail in 3-5 years. I won’t be one of those.” Third, the accessible travel portion of the business began to explode. Over the years, the number of accessible charters in her fleet has grown. “I finally realized that I wasn’t asking for money for me, it was for me to pay it forward and provide a way for people to see the world who might’ve thought they couldn’t.”

Greatest Adventure
Sherri’s greatest adventure has been sailing with Don. She refers to Don as her husband and they wear rings, though they have not actually tied the knot. “We’re waiting to find the perfect beach,” she explains with a smile. Following her surgery, her first sail was with Don. “I got to stand barefoot on the deck, an amazing experience.”

They’ve sailed through three seasons since, exploring new corners of the world.  Sherri’s brainchild, born of disability and determination, will not only enable her to continue to explore those new waters, but will enable others with disabilities – who might have thought such an experience out of reach – to do so as well.

For more on Sherri and Waypoint Charters, visit their site here.

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