sailing across the English Channel in a tall ship as a member of the crew.

Through the efforts of the Bermuda Jubilee Sailing Trust, Mr. Rasool flies to England next month to join the Lord Nelson -- the only vessel in the world specifically built to enable people with physical disabilities to sail it.

Bunks on board the Lord Nelson will vibrate in case of an emergency for the benefit of deaf seamen, her passageways are wide enough to accommodate those in wheelchairs, there are lifts instead of stairs, and the blind can steer by use of a compass that works by sounds, not signs.

Since the Trust was started in 1989, 13 disabled residents, from paraplegics to the blind, have had the chance to cross the ocean in the Lord Nelson .

Among them was 22-year-old Miss Lisa Lewis who has a crippling muscle disease and Mr. Wendell Talbot who was confined to a wheelchair as the result of a motorcycle accident.

Mr. Rasool lost his sight some 40 years ago in a dynamite explosion at Government's Hamilton Parish quarry.

On July 7, accompanied by his able-bodied companion Mr. Paul Simmons, he will sail from Southampton, England, to Brest, France, for a huge maritime festival.

The two men have at least one thing in common -- the voyage will be their first ocean crossing in a sailing vessel.

However, neither of the men are strangers to the sea. Mr. Rasool says he has sailed in Hamilton Harbour and has ventured many times off North Shore in a punt.

Mr. Simmons, an employee of Si-Tech Radio Shack who volunteers his time to help the handicapped, was a sea cadet and is still a keen sailor.

The Jubilee Trust was started by Mr. John Young who is a member of the board of management of the Bermuda Sailors Home, a registered charity which looks out for the welfare of seamen and operates the Mariners Club.

Mr. Young came up with the idea of raising money to send physically disabled people on ocean voyages when the Lord Nelson visited Bermuda in 1989 on her way from the Bahamas to the United Kingdom.

Those who are selected for a voyage on the British-based Lord Nelson travel to the United Kingdom and sail on voyages around Europe, accompanied by an able-bodied companion from Bermuda.

Mr. Young said it costs an average of $2,000 to send someone on the Lord Nelson , therefore only a limited number of people can go each year.

"We try to send four people a year,'' Mr. Young said. "The experience does the same for those who are handicapped as it does it for anyone else who goes on an ocean voyage. It builds self-confidence -- it's a type of Outward Bound for the physically handicapped.'' GOING TO SEA -- Mr. Albuwi Rasool (left) and his able-bodied companion Mr.

Paul Simmons who volunteers his time to help the handicapped.