New Website Chat Box Launched To Help Direct Sellers Market Their Wares

Posted on May 15, 2012 by admin


Boston, MA (PRWEB) May 04, 2012

Direct selling is one of the oldest professions in the world, based on the websites and research materials dedicated for it. Many people have tried direct selling, yet only few of them made it big in the industry. To ease up a direct seller?s marketing effort, Chatwing has introduced a website chat tool that has a high rate of global connectivity. Chatwing?s developers worked round the clock to ensure that the widget can deliver a great service.

Chatwing is meant for global connection even though it may look simple. In fact, people love simple apps because they don?t have to waste time doing complicated methods. The Chatwing chat box simply improves the way people communicate with each other. In Chatwing, guests and visitors can log in using their Facebook or Twitter accounts. This eases up the exchange of personal information. Adding to that, people with Facebook groups can now recommend their advocacies to everyone easily.

Direct sellers with blogs will also have a minor break in the industry. However, it doesn?t stop in blog creation alone. To make a blog worthwhile, the user must be able to utilize a shout box that can attract attention and generate activity. This is the main goal of Chatwing. Once installed in any blog, Chatwing has the potential to turn it into a lounge of varying topics and discussions. With a successful marketing spree, the blog will become visible in just days or weeks.

Also, installation of the Chatwing shout box takes only simple steps. First, the user must register his blog?s domain name. Next, he needs to set up an official account that will serve as his dashboard. In the customization step, the user can modify the height, width, color, and title of the widget. After completing everything, Chatwing will generate the HTML code necessary for the embedding process. Once Chatwing is embedded, it will usually go live in just seconds.

About Chatwing.com

Chatwing.com has developed live chat software for websites and blogs. It caters to different online communities due to its high rate of connectivity. Everyone can create a customizable live chat box feature in 1 minute or less. Users have the ability to customize the size, color, and fonts of the chat product. The ability to chat via social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter enable Chatwing to offer a personal and unique real-time experience to all sites. Chatwing is 100% free and very easy to use.







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Avoid the Zoning Trap: Five Tips For Retailers

Posted on May 8, 2012 by admin

Washington D.C. (PRWEB) April 30, 2012

Retailers know the saying, “Location, location, location.” Indeed, location in the retail business is often the difference between success and failure. Considerations should include shopper demographics, visibility, and access. Just as critical are the zoning rules and requirements according to Capital Retail Group, a Washington D.C. based commercial real estate firm. Robert Tack, the CEO of Capital Retail Group, says ?If zoning isn?t considered early in the search phase, a retailer may find the perfect location only to find out the use is not allowed.?

Zoning laws or ordinances define and restrict how and where a business can operate. According to Capital Retail Group, zoning typically restricts land use by type of use, structure height, and position of the structure.

Match Location and Zoning

Robert Tack states, ?One of the first steps in the site selection process is to make sure you can operate the business where you are looking.? It’s critical a retailer understands the zoning ordinances and regulations for the area where the business is located.

Zoning Laws: The Basics

Most jurisdictions dictate all construction or rehabilitation on private land must conform to the requirements imposed by a zoning commission or seek relief before the appropriate bodies.

How Zoning Rules Are Made

Most often, zoning ordinances are made by city or county government officials. Those officials, usually with the help of a planning commission, divide the community into districts, or zones. For example, The District of Columbia is divided into 34 zone districts.

Exceptions & Special Uses

Added to the complexity of zoning are overlay districts which are designed to balance a mixture of uses by means of incentives and requirements including retail, hotel, residential, entertainment, arts, and cultural uses. It’s possible to get permission to run a retail business in a zone that normally doesn’t allow retail businesses. This is done by applying for a special or conditional use permit from the local zoning commission or board. Retailers should be aware of any zoning restrictions limiting operations. For instance, a retailer may be able to open a convenience store but not be able to sell high margin products such as tobacco or alcohol.

How to Find the Zoning Laws????

Most zoning information is easily accessible for free on the jurisdictions zoning website. For example, the District of Columbia office of zoning webpage includes an excellent zoning guidebook covering everything from the history of DC zoning to the players who make the zoning rules.

Deciding on the right retail location is a big decision, and it is often stressful. Knowing with certainty the location and use follows the local zoning laws can ease some of the stress and save time and money.

About Capital Retail Group

Capital Retail Group provides a full range of brokerage, property management, and strategic advisory services to the commercial retail sector serving Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and our Blog.







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Aware Bear Computer Repair Pittsford, NY, is Expanding Its Computer Repair Services from Pittsford, To The Greater Rochester, New York Area

Posted on May 1, 2012 by admin


Pittsford, New York (PRWEB) April 24, 2012

Aware Bear Computer Repair is located on 5 Monroe Avenue in the Village of Pittsford, New York, (585) 473-7035. Since the closing of major retail stores in Rochester, New York, the demand for quality computer repair and services has increased tremendously.

With that in mind, Aware Bear Computer Repair in Pittsford, NY, has decided to expand its operations in order to supply greater Rochester, residents with the same quality computer repair and services provided in Pittsford, NY.

Pittsford, New York is a Rochester, NY, suburb located South of the City of Rochester. With over 1500 satisfied clients, Aware Bear Computer Repair was voted by the Rochester Business Journal, as one of the top computer repair stores in Monroe County.

Aware Bear Computer Repair in Pittsford, New York, offers laptop, desktop and Apple / Mac computer repair and services. Aware Bear is a locally family owned and operated computer repair store.

Aware Bear?s factory trained technicians, have the experience when it comes to laptop, desktop or Apple products. All the work is performed in house and no computer will ever leave Rochester, New York. ?In the past I had to call a 1 800 number and wait 4 to 5 hours in order to talk to someone overseas. Many times a technician would come to my home and try to swap out a part and most of the time that was not the correct thing to do. In many cases I would need to ship our computers to an unknown location and wait two to three weeks before it came back? Jason Cohen from Victor, New York.

Anyone looking for more information on Aware Bear Computer Repair services in Rochester, New York, please visit Aware Bear?s official website http://awarebear.com or call (585) 473-7035. Aware Bear Computers is open Monday ? Friday 10 am to 6 pm and Saturdays 11am to 3pm.

http://awarebear.com/blog/awarebear/aware-bear-computer-repair-pittsford-ny-expands-to-rochester-ny/







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Dungeons and Dragons Opens a New Portal

Posted on April 24, 2012 by admin


Mount Vernon, Washington (PRWEB) April 17, 2012

Dungeons and Dragons has once again spawned another resource on the Internet, HouseRules4DND. In this dark, hidden place, Dungeon Masters can find skill challenge advice, gaming resources, house rules, and adventures?all for free. It is a place where monsters and treasures like Gollum and the Ring of Power await those brave enough to tread the tangled Web.

?It?s going to be a fascinating and strange place to visit,? said Michael Karkabe-Olson, it?s creator, ?and I hope long-time hobbyists will find its material useful to their games. Those who are unfamiliar with D&D, or who are new to the game, should also find it entertaining.?

Dungeons and Dragons is a game published by Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro that was made immensely popular during the 1970s and ?80s. Its creators, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, first released the innovative idea for D&D under the brand name TSR, and the game has since seen a resurgence in 2008-2012 with the release of its 4th-edition set of rules and due to references in several hit television shows like ?The Big Bang Theory? and ?Community.? Now the publishers of the game are in the process of designing and releasing a 5th edition, hoping to unite the various factions of the game who continue to quibble over which edition of rules is the best.

The first postings of HouseRules4DND will feature an article titled, “Riddles and Puzzles.” In addition, there will be a set of clues and mysterious tracks that will lead a party of player characters to a trio of dead bodies in a side-trek adventure titled ?Mysterious Tracks,? and an article on house rules for minions and magic missiles that will help prevent exploitation of the spell magic missile in the game. The site offers a number of reviews of other D&D sites, a new house rules option to enhance the game’s critical hit system, and a new creature that can be used to bring down a single character fast. Dungeon Masters can also run a skill challenge that centers upon the escape of the player characters from a slave encampment.

The site is currently dedicated to the D&D 4th edition set of the rules, but it will eventually morph into providing 5th edition content and house rules as well, once that version is released. It will contain content useful for the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, and Dark Sun campaign settings, and for homebrew campaign settings. In addition, the site contains valuable information to compliment previously published articles in Dragon Magazine and to compliment the official rules of the 4th-edition online D&D Rules Compendium.

So, whether you need a quick dungeon delve or a quick skill challenge to insert into your campaign, or a couple house rules to fix a perceived flaw in the game, or house rules to add an interesting element to a campaign, such as an improved critical hit system, visit this latest Dungeons and Dragons site now at http://www.HouseRules4DND.weebly.com.

About the authors and publisher

Michael Karkabe-Olson is the publisher of HouseRules4DND. He and his 10-year-old son, Thaseus, are the main contributors to the site. They live in Mount Vernon, Washington, about 50 miles north of the headquarters of Wizards of the Coast in Renton. Michael Karkabe-Olson has played Dungeons and Dragons since he was his son?s age and was responsible for introducing his son to the hobby. They spend many hours playing the game together and having fun. Michael Karkabe-Olson is very proud of his son who currently tests at a 9th-grade level in all areas of education even though he’s only in the 4th grade. He attributes much of that success to their love for D&D, which, he?d like to mention, is a great way to encourage children to read and use mathematical skills and write creatively and spur their imagination. Thaseus?s first contribution to the site, ?Riddles and Puzzles,? can be viewed at http://www.HouseRules4DND.weebly.com.

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Chatwing Introduces Better Chat Function for Bloggers and Surfers

Posted on April 17, 2012 by admin


Boston, MA (PRWEB) April 04, 2012

There are many ways a chat application can help an individual. First, information can be delivered fast and easy through instant messaging. Second, connecting to other people is always fun and entertaining. Lastly, social networking sites area always involved with chat applications, allowing an individual to meet new friends. The Chatwing free chat widget has all of these important factors, making it one of the champions in the industry.

Chatwing is all about better connection and instant messaging. Its developers have realized the need for chatrooms that can be set up quick and easy. Chatwing is indeed user-friendly that it can be set up in just few seconds.

Since Chatwing is a widget, it can be embedded to any blog. To embed Chatwing, the user must register his blog?s domain name to the website. He also needs to create an official Chatwing account that will become his dashboard. The next step is customization. The user can customize the widget?s height, length, color, and name. Once everything is complete, he can now retrieve the HTML code needed for embedding.

Website chat is another thing that made Chatwing climb up the ranks. It has been proven that many people want to chat while discovering one website after another. This keeps them entertained. Once embedded to any blog, the Chatwing widget provides entertainment to visitors. The chat box also serves as a means of the blogger to communicate with his blog visitors.

Chatwing is also integrated with the social network log-in method. This simply means that users can log in using their Facebook or Twitter accounts. This makes information exchange easy all the time.

About Chatwing

Chatwing.com has developed live chat software for websites and blogs. The Chatwing.com website offers users the ability to signup and create a customizable live chat feature in 1 minute or less. Users have the ability to customize the size, color, and fonts of the chats. The ability to chat via social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter enable Chatwing to offer a personal and unique real-time experience to all sites. Chatwing is 100% free web software.





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Study: Chatwing Announces Over 80% Ranking Improvement for Advice Blogs

Posted on April 10, 2012 by admin


Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) April 01, 2012

There are many ways people can benefit from chatting. The most significant benefit is information delivery. Another thing that cannot be neglected is the power of communication. This is where the Chatwing free chat widget comes in. Chatwing specializes in providing real-time communication for people all over the world.

Chatwing is definitely meant for everyone, but it is more beneficial for bloggers since it is a widget. Bloggers can now embed this website chat engine to their blogs, and their visitors can engage in entertaining chat right away.

Embedding Chatwing is mandatory for people to have chats on websites right away. A personalized widget appeals better to people and can even be another way to generate friends and contacts. A strong factor of Chatwing is the social network log-in method. Through this function, people can now log in using their Facebook or Twitter accounts. This makes personal information exchange easier and the ability to have instant chatrooms.

To embed Chatwing, the user must register his blog?s domain name. He also needs to set up an official Chatwing account. The account will serve as his dashboard for all the widgets he is planning to use. Customization is the next step. In this step, the user can edit the height, width, color, and name of the widget. Once everything is complete, Chatwing will provide the HTML code needed for installation.

Advice blogs can definitely benefit a lot from Chatwing because of the rate of hits from visitors. This applies to advice blogs with moderate to high ranking. Visitors of advice blogs tend to talk and have chats about their problems. Chatwing provides an easier way of communication. This is a useful strategy that connects the bloggers to their readers easily.

About Chatwing.com

Chatwing.com has developed live chat software for websites and blogs. The Chatwing.com website offers users the ability to signup and create a customizable live chat feature in 1 minute or less. Users have the ability to customize the size, color, and fonts of the chat product. The ability to chat via social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter enable Chatwing to offer a personal and unique real-time experience to all sites. Chatwing is 100% free web software.

http://www.chatwing.com





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Announcing the Launch of Dogington Post: The First Daily Curated Blog for Dogs and Their Parents

Posted on April 3, 2012 by admin

Boca Raton, FL (PRWEB) March 27, 2012

In honor of National Puppy Day, Dogington Post officially launches its site, promising a forum of informative articles, newsworthy dog stories, health and breed information, and heartwarming videos for the most discerning dog lover. Dogington Post is the internet source of information for everything dog. The site addresses current issues affecting dogs and their human parents. Articles on the site range from serious health concerns (“Are jerky treats killing dogs?”, “Can dogs get frostbite?) to lifestyle issues on feeding, grooming, and the overall well-being and mental health of dogs.

According to Hector Valenzuela, a Vet Tech and member of the Dogington Post Community, “I was impressed by the content in the site. It truly gives credible information that dog owners need to care for their dogs”. Another member insists,” the thoughtful owner is given the tools to create a holistic and eco-friendly world for their dog to live in.” Make no mistake; Dogington Post does more than address serious issues. It is incredibly entertaining with articles on doggie horoscopes, healthy treats, doggie jokes and doggie birthdays. There is nothing this site does not cover.

A noteworthy section on the site is the business section which highlights innovative products and services such as Petchatz, a way (using a Skype type videophone) for owners to connect with their pet even when they are not at home.

With an easy to navigate layout and plenty of information from knowledgeable sources, Dogington Post allows the reader to quickly find the information they seek. Set-up like a comprehensive newspaper, the articles are well-written and supported by facts and research.

This site is full of interesting articles, so dog lovers should be prepared to lose themselves amidst the cyber pages. Dogington Post delivers crucial information, current news, hot-topics and many adorable pictures and videos of dogs; the perfect combination that will make it a top site for serious dog lovers.

DogingtonPost.com was created for the love of dogs.

The site was conceived and built through the combined efforts of contributing bloggers, technicians and compassionate volunteers who believe the way one treats their dog is a direct reflection of the state of our society. Through the creation of a knowledge base that informs, uplifts and inspires, all dog lovers can make a difference.

People are increasingly turning online to gather and give information. Although user-generated content is encouraged, we ask everyone be respectful of others with regard to the originator?s terms, conditions and copyrights.

Questions and comments about the site and/or its contents should be directed to info(at)dogingtonpost(dot)com.

Speak!



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Inspiring and Fun, Results-driven, and Training that Sticks: New Website for Signature Worldwide Infuses Brand Promise with Real Customer Experience

Posted on March 27, 2012 by admin


Columbus, Ohio (PRWEB) March 15, 2012

What are customer expectations for a company website? In 2012, the website now often serves as a customer’s first official introduction to a company. While a brick and mortar institution may provide an excellent customer service experience, if the customer never interacts with them due to their web experience, the opportunity is lost. Signature Worldwide, a small company with a great character, knows the value of every opportunity they have with a prospective and current customer.

An international training and business solutions company, Signature Worldwide has quite a reputation with their customers. Anyone who has attended a class with one of their trainers will tell you it is not your typical training day. There is no lecture, people are up and moving, and all senses are engaged…there are even toys. “When I started working with Signature Worldwide, I realized right away that they had an amazing culture and were such a fun company. I knew that our website and our marketing materials needed to reflect what our customers experience in the classroom or when they meet with one of our staff,” said Cara Posey, Director of Marketing.

The first step in the process of visually and verbally expressing the customer experience was defining Signature Worldwide’s brand promise. Their brand promise is to be inspiring and fun, results-driven, and to provide training that sticks. These elements are key to everything that the company does and every interaction the company has with existing or prospective customers. The next step was determining what these elements looked like. Posey added, “Some of our Twitter and Facebook friends will remember that the marketing team reached out to our professional contacts all over the world and conducted a four question visual survey to determine which images best represented each element of our brand promise.”

The new website, which launched this week, was the culmination of hundreds of hours of thought and research, asking questions such as: “How can you visually express the true essence of a company?” and “How can we show a prospective customer exactly what they will experience when they do business with us?” Paul Hagen, an analyst with Forrester, wrote in September 2011 about how B2B customer experiences “stink.” Hagen blogged that many companies said they didn’t need to worry about customer experience because their account management teams already personalized encounters with customers.

In today’s environment, no company can afford to ignore the power of their entire customer’s experience with them. “As a company that trains others on the value of customer service, we want Signature Worldwide customers to know that we care about every interaction they have with us,” said Steve Wolever, CEO. “Whether that is filling out a web request for mystery shopping, logging into our online learning system, or downloading one of our product cards, we want them to have an excellent customer service experience.”

Signature Worldwide began in 1986 training hotel employees to improve customer service levels, increase RevPAR, raise occupancy levels and ultimately generate more revenue for hospitality clients. Over the past 25 years, they have expanded their industry expertise to multifamily and public housing, equipment, trucking, party and event rental, senior living and in 2010 introduced social media training. Whenever the phone rings, a customer approaches, or an online inquiry is generated, Signature Worldwide helps to improve the customer experience significantly.

About Signature Worldwide | Signature Worldwide is the leading provider of training and business solutions to service-based organizations, creating tailored employee training and marketing programs that directly impact the bottom line. Established in 1986 and headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Signature Worldwide operates throughout North America and has licensees in four other continents; Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. For more information, visit http://www.signatureworldwide.com or connect with Signature Worldwide via Twitter @signatureworld or on Facebook at [http://www.facebook.com/signatureworldwide.





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The Real Moms of Eastern Iowa Have a Story to Tell: St. Luke?s Hospital Launches Innovative Mommy Blog Network

Posted on March 19, 2012 by admin


Cambridge, MA (PRWEB) March 11, 2012

St. Luke?s Hospital in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and MedTouch, the leading provider of web strategy and online solutions for healthcare, together announce the launch of an interactive patient resource. From the bump (pregnancy), to the nest (infants), and beyond (parenting), The Real Moms of Eastern Iowa blog, therealmomsofeasterniowa.com, strives to give healthy parenting tips to patients straight from the source: real moms. The St. Luke?s Hospital staff came up with the idea, recruited local bloggers, and set to flush out a promotion strategy; MedTouch was tapped to design and develop an engaging user experience for the blog.

The first of its kind in Cedar Rapids, The Real Moms of Eastern Iowa follows the day-to-day experiences of five Eastern Iowa women and covers anything and everything relating to motherhood.

Focusing on the trials and tribulations of being a new parent – be it a first-timer or a mommy with a newborn and other kids at home, discussion topics include everything from learning you?re expecting to sleepless nights and all the moments in between. Real moms in the community can also share their stories, exchange information and provide support to each other.

“Every mom, whether she is a first-timer or not, has questions at one point or another,? said Laura Rainey, St. Luke?s Marketing Communications director. ?This is a place where women can follow the stories of our five featured moms, as well as ask questions, get advice and share their own experiences.” It’s a great way for the community to interact and learn.”

In a conservative industry, St. Luke?s is pushing the envelope of what a mommy blog can be. Not only is the statement loud, but it is also being heavily promoted outside hospital walls. The real moms are now featured around the metro area billboards, direct mail campaign using CRM and other promotional materials.

Luckily for St. Luke?s, community feedback was instant; through the blog?s Facebook integration, St. Luke?s can see the comments and social reach, which earned quite a few posts with up to 10 comments overnight.

The results, after one day:

?767 Visits to the site

?684 from Facebook alone, demonstrating the value of the comments integration

?Over 1/3 of the Facebook visits were on a mobile device browsing the site

?Visits from 39 different states

?Visits from 5 countries

?Indexed in both Google and Bing already

The results, after one week:

?2,643 unique visitors

?12,376 total page views

?705 YouTube video views

?Facebook Integration – Brought over 100 comments to the blog and 56% visits were Facebook referrals

?Mobile ? Nearly 1/3 of all traffic came from mobile devices

The Real Moms is also uniquely presented, as each mom authors their own blog, which through sophisticated tagging and categorization on the back-end, allows them to ?contribute? to topics. While the blog is featuring the real moms, it also presents an opportunity for St. Luke?s to highlight its birthcare and NICU services in the right-hand column, tying back to the hospital website, where visitors can get expert medical advice and information. The footer provides the opportunity to further opt-in to parenting content via the weekly eNewsletter and by subscribing to any of St. Luke?s social channels.

St. Luke?s Marketing Communications staff ensures topics are appropriate for the blog and corrects grammar mistakes but hospital officials do not edit content.

?To follow the blog visit therealmomsofeasterniowa.com. For more information about St. Luke?s, visit stlukescr.org.

?To see local news coverage, please visit: Kgan.com and The Gazette

?To view a video featuring the bloggers and their children visit: http://youtu.be/aWcIAVB6JkU.

About St. Luke?s Hospital

St. Luke?s is a fully accredited 532-bed hospital serving a five-county area surrounding Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Founded in 1884 as Cedar Rapids? first hospital, today it offers a wide range of patient care services with strengths in cardiac care, obstetrics, neonatology, pediatrics, rehabilitation, behavioral health, general surgery, trauma care and senior services. St. Luke?s Hospital is nationally recognized as a Top 100 and Magnet Hospital.

About MedTouch

For the last eight years, MedTouch has focused exclusively on helping healthcare organizations succeed online. By combining interactive marketing strategy with creative and technical excellence, MedTouch ensures its clients achieve specific, measurable and memorable results. Those clients include dozens of nationally-ranked academic medical centers, community hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, health plans and healthcare-related not-for-profits in more than twenty states. From consumer-focused websites to patient-centric social media and mobile channels, online physician recruitment programs to results-driven search marketing, CRM integration to enhancing patient portals, MedTouch makes healthcare interactive.

Headquarters:

84 Sherman Street

Cambridge, MA 02140

866-638-6824

Media contact: Sarah Corizzo, St. Luke?s Hospital 319/369-8372 or 319/560-2385.





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Battered and Worn After 20,000 Miles and 254 Days At Sea, Solo Sailor Anticipating Arriving Home

Posted on March 12, 2012 by admin


Annapolis, Maryland (PRWEB) March 01, 2012

With supplies running low and equipment failures becoming more frequent, solo sailor Matt Rutherford is racing for home. Eight months and 20,000 miles into his solo sail around North and South America, he has passed Rio de Janeiro off the coast of Brazil and is steering north for his final destination, the Chesapeake Bay. His network of supporters hopes that he and his 27-foot sailboat, St. Brendan, hold together that long.

Rutherford?s 25,000-mile journey is roughly equivalent to the distance around the Earth?s equator. He is making this incredible trip to raise $ 250,000 ? $ 10 for each nautical mile ? for Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (C.R.A.B.), an Annapolis, Md., nonprofit that makes sailing available to persons with disabilities.

After 254 days at sea, much of his equipment is broken or jury-rigged. His engine starter no longer works, making him completely dependent on sail. The bilge pump is kaput ? so he bails bilge water with a can ? as are his freighter radar for detecting oncoming ships, solar panels for powering electronics, and VHF radio for talking to other vessels. Not able to generate power, he can?t even turn on his laptop to check the weather or post blog entries via satellite. And the last hand-pumped desalinator, his only source of drinking water, is making strange noises.

?I?ve lost my Bernard Moitessier mindset ? thinking of sailing endlessly in an oceanic utopia,? he wrote on February 22. ?It?s been replaced by a much more realistic idea that I need to get back to land before this whole boat falls apart. I?m riding close to the edge and it wouldn?t take much for me to go over.?

The situation has gotten so bad that an emergency resupply is being launched from the port city of Recife, Brazil. He will receive a handle to manually start his engine, a bilge pump, a desalinator and lights.

Rutherford has sailed through some of the most dangerous seas on Earth, including the ice-filled Northwest Passage and storm-tossed Cape Horn. The grueling trip is taking its toll on him and St. Brendan. He stands 10-hour shifts at the helm, handles the rigging in every kind of weather, and when he isn?t snatching some sleep in his damp bunk, he is on watch. And all on a 36-year old Albin Vega sailboat designed for weekend jaunting, not circling continents.

When he finishes the last 5,000-mile stretch of his journey, the 30-year-old Maryland resident will earn a singular place in the record books. He will be the first person to solo-sail around North and South America, completing the trip in about 300 days. And in all that time, he will not have stopped at a port, dropped anchor, left his boat or had another person on board.

As amazing a feat as this will be, Rutherford is chiefly motivated to show people, particularly those with disabilities, that there are no limits to what can be accomplished in life. He is also raising money for Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB), a nonprofit sailing program for people with disabilities based in Annapolis, Md. The nonprofit hopes to raise $ 250,000, which will go toward retrofitting CRAB?s current fleet of four sailboats, purchasing new handicap-accessible racing boats and modifying fishing boat for wheelchair accessibility.

So far, there is still a way to go on fundraising, much like Matt?s journey. Donations can be made online at http://www.crab-sailing.org or by calling 410-626-0273.

?We are extremely proud of Matt and grateful for his dedication to our cause,? said Dan Backe, executive director and founder of CRAB. ?Because of his journey, many disabled people will get to experience the thrill of sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, gain confidence and improve their overall lives.?

A big welcome-home party is planned when Rutherford drops anchor at the National Sailing Center & Hall of Fame dock in Annapolis on or near April 14. His friends from CRAB, a large section of the Mid-Atlantic sailing community, city and state officials, and hundreds of other supporters will cheer him and his remarkable achievement.

To track Rutherford?s progress, map his course and read his ongoing blog about the trip, go to

http://www.solotheamericas.org/.

About CRAB

Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating (CRAB) is a non-profit organization based in Annapolis, Maryland, that provides opportunities for people with physical and developmental challenges to experience boating on the Chesapeake Bay. Founded by Don Backe in 1991, CRAB maintains a fleet of Freedom Independence 20 sloops, which are designed specifically for use by mobility-challenged persons. To learn more about CRAB, visit: http://www.crab-sailing.org.

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