"Where did the name ‘SHAKE-A-LEG’ come from?" The term derives from an expression used by officers in the Royal Navy to rouse sailors from their bunks. "Shake a leg!" or "Show a leg!", a captain or first mate would call out to a crewmember, to discover if they were awake and ready to take the watch.

The above picture of crew's quarters aboard HMS Warrior (1860) shows a less than enviable living situation by today's standards. This is not a Great Room featuring an entertainment center equipped with large screen TV. Here are cannons, bunks and mess tables all in one living space! Clearly those who took up a life-at-sea for adventure were willing to give up the comforts of home.

In 1982, among the founders of SHAKE-A-LEG were sailors who realized that their programs offered the opportunity for adventure, personal accomplishment and growth for those willing and ready to “to take that watch”. They formalized a program to encourage people with physical disabilities to step aboard a sailboat, to learn from their peers over a summer-camp day, to conquer a significant life transition utilizing a regimen of total physical and emotional therapy …  to push at the boundaries of their lives, and to grow. Today "SHAKE-A-LEG" remains a call to action and adventure. "Are you ready?"

P.S. Today's accommodations are much improved from those pictured above.