The late Clyde Stovell never let the fact that his disabilty confined him to a wheeelchair hold him back, but he never expected to be able to sail a tall ship! Then he and his family heard about the Lord Nelson , a special tall ship purpose built by the Jubilee Sailing Trust to carry a crew that is half able-bodied and half physically challenged.

Aboard the Lord Nelson , the Trust brochure informed them, "everyone in the crew is encouraged to participate in the sailing of the ship to the best of their abilities, no matter how slight ''.

The Lord Nelson was a dream come true for Clyde, a spectacular call to adventure and a challenge he didn't want to miss! In August, 1997 he and his father boarded the 180-foot square rigged Lord Nelson in the port of Penzance, Cornwall.

"We sailed over to the Isle of Wight,'' Clyde's father MacDonald Stovell recalled, "across the English Channel to the southwest side of France along the Brittany coast. I was a little seasick the first night, but Clyde was fine! "Clyde and I had to stand the day watches,'' Mr Stovell said. "We were reading the wind velocity, checking wind positions. We were in the shipping lanes, so all eyes were looking out so we didn't run into anything.

"Clyde even went aloft,'' he said. "The crew pulled his wheelchair right on up to the lookout post. I was seriously doubtful about going up there, but he couldn't wait to go. He had more nerve than me! "Clyde is an adventurer. He was just so fascinated that a huge ship that size could be pushed along by the wind. The faster the better for Clyde. He thoroughly enjoyed it when the sails were billowing and she was clipping along...'' "The crew that we had was fabulous. We made a lot of friends. I wrote them all letters after Clyde's death a few months later in December. It was wonderful that he had this great adventure before he died.'' Clyde and his father volunteered their time working for a week at a Southampton shipyard on the new ship for the Jubilee Trust.

"We were making the ribs for the hull, which was recently launched. Clyde was with me in the shipyard,'' he said. "He did his share to help out. He held his paint brush in his mouth and painted the red crosses on the lids of the medical kits.

"I would like to see a lot of Bermudians, able-bodied or oherwise, go sailing. It's a good challenge and everyone should strive for something. Plus, travelling to other places and meeting other people from different walks of life, well it makes your own mind more flexible.'' Adventurer at sea: Macdonald Stovell and his late son Clyde on the Lord Nelson. Clyde, confined to a wheelchair after a motorcycle accident sailed on the tall ship just a few months before his death. Clyde, who was a well known painter -- using his teeth to hold the paintbrush -- also helped Lord Nelson operator the Jubilee Trust prepare its newest ship by painting red crosses on the new ship's medical kits.