Nov 23 - on the beach

After breakfast we headed to the beach. Apparently it's the first time that Collette has been able to go on the beach in years -- that's the beauty of a beach that has sand packed as hard as a roadway, and is a roadway !

We had a good time, driving the van to the end of the drivable beach and then getting the electric chair down the ramp. We went for a walk/roll down the beach ... it was a beautiful day albeit a little windy and cool.

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Change of plan -- I was interrupted as I was typing this by Bill, who came to tell me that Collete's chair was malfunctioning ... make that not functioning. When turned on, the lights that show battery charge simply flash. We fussed with it for about an hour, disconnecting wires, reconnecting wires, checking on the internet for similar problems and it appears that the chair's controller box may be toast. Rather than go to Disney World and rely on the manual wheelchair which leaves Collette wholly dependent on others to move her around, we'll probably look for a scooter rental in the area as well as a company who can repair the chair. She doesn't mind using the manual wheelchair for a short while but like anyone else, she likes to be in charge of her own mobility, and does not have the strength in her arms to propel the chair on her own.

These chairs are heavy -- it clocks in around 400 pounds, according to Bill, with batteries installed. That may be a slight exaggeration, since on the internet it is advertised at 165 lbs or something like that without batteries, so probably "only" weighs 300-350 with its large batteries. Luckily we figured out how to disengage the motors because otherwise it won't move without power. Still, it takes two of us to simply push it forward, inching along. It will be a challenge getting it up the ramp into the van ! I need my winch !! There isn't much to them -- a joystick on a controller box on the arm, a motor for each driving wheel and two very large 12 volt batteries.

So ... today's plan is up in the air. We'll find other things to do in the area and hopefully come up with a solution for the rest of the week or a repair.