BRADENTON — Gathering at the kayak launch, Wayne Douchkoff asks for help unloading kayaks from the truck and carrying them to the water.
Asking for help is important. But it does not necessarily come easily to military veterans, especially those with PTSD, who often isolate themselves from the community.
“A lot of veterans are loners like me,” former Indiana Air National Guardsman Gail Phillips said. “We just kind of hide away and get used to not going anywhere.”
Gail learned about the free Save a Vet, Save the Bay kayak program for veterans with PTSD from a therapist at the Sarasota Vet Center who often paddles with the group. Gail thought it might be a nice reason to get out of the house, but it turned out to be much more.
At the shoreline, Wayne briefs the vets on safety and gear and paddling tips. Some are anxious to get in the water. Some are just anxious.
Wayne is not a vet, but he has suffered from PTSD and depression since 2001. He found help on the waterways, and wants to help others and the waterways in return.
“Getting people outdoors is a passion for me for many reasons, not just to address mental health issues,” he said. His goals for the program are to get veterans outdoors in the healing power of nature, educate about the importance of Sarasota Bay, provide counseling referrals to and from the VA and provide an opportunity for veterans to socialize with other vets.
He helps the paddlers one by one to launch their kayaks, and starts a guided two-hour paddle at Robinson Preserve, a county park bordering the Manatee River with protected kayak trails.
The leisurely trip is part exercise, part eco-tour and part therapy.
Watching ospreys fish, cloud-gazing and identifying the different types of mangroves on the shoreline are all on the to-do list. So is doing absolutely nothing.
At the halfway point, it’s paddles up. Wayne invites everyone to close their eyes and put their hands in the water on either side of their kayak.
Suddenly you feel the sun on your face and the breeze in your hair, which was there all along, but you didn’t notice it. You can hear the water lapping against the boats, and the splash of a mullet jumping. You smell the unmistakable scent of real Florida, a combination of pine trees and salt air and decomposing leaves.
“You connect with nature,” Gail said. “You forget the troubles you have, the things you’re worried about. It brings an unexpected type of therapy to you.”
The quiet is part of the therapy, and the rhythmic paddling, and especially the camaraderie.
“This way I can be part of the community,” said former Navy hospital corpsman Wayne Liskow, who likes the light exercise and the educational aspects of the trip, as well as the social aspect.
“I have a tendency to isolate,” he said.
Sometimes, the kayakers open up a bit and discuss where they served, and maybe what is bothering them.
But just being together provides a special brand of support.
Still in the bunker
“Veterans are regimented,” said Lou Murray, 83, a Vietnam vet with PTSD who spearheaded the program. “We learn how to work as a team. We help each other. We have a system. We don’t have to apologize. We don’t ask stupid questions. We can laugh among ourselves because we understand each other.”
About four years ago, Lou had an idea. He talked to the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program about accessing their community grant funding for a mental health program he had in mind offering meaningful experiences for veterans.
“I thought, we have to connect them to the estuary. The estuary has healing powers. And one of the best ways to connect with the estuary is kayaking,” said Megan Barry, SBEP communications and partnerships manager.
Lou and the Multicultural Health Institute partnered with the SBEP and Wayne’s company, Wayne Adventures, to create the program, she said.
Lou saw it less as therapy and more as a matter of life or death.
“When I saw the high percentage of veterans that have committed suicide because of PTSD, I knew then I needed to do something,” he said. “They’re still embedded in the bunker. I had to carve out some time and pull them out of the bunker and get them on the water.”
Once they’re floating, “It’s like an elephant comes off them,” he said.
After the program began, Lou recalled that one veteran shared that he had tried everything else and had been at his wit’s end and was about to give up when he discovered the program.
Lou knew what that might have meant.
“He said, ‘I couldn’t believe how being on the water with some other vets was exactly what I needed,’ ” Lou said.
“The water has this magical spiritual and mental therapy,” he said. “There’s no pill you can give that can take the place of that.”
Part of the reason it works is that everyone helps each other, with the newcomers eventually becoming helpers to newer participants, Gail said.
“When someone is new or unstable getting in the kayak, everyone comes together to physically help,” she said. “There was never a feeling that I wasn’t safe.”
Wayne tells everyone the destination and gives directions, including what to do if the wind takes you off course or if you find yourself in shallow water or in a narrow spot, Gail said.
For those who have never kayaked, he offers tandem kayaks for two to pair with someone who is experienced.
“You’re relying on strangers for safety and communication,” Gail said, which helps with trust issues.
And you become part of a community, she said.
“You start to realize you’re missing out by not going and meeting people,” she said. “It gives you something to look forward to, and something to look back on.”
For more information, veterans and volunteers can email info@sarasotabay.org or wdouchkoff@aol.com.
Cindy Lane is a staff writer for the Tampa Bay Beacons. She can be reached at clane@tbnweekly.com.