CHANGES With reports this month on Ellie's trip to Alaska; Sail a Vie's brush
with a hurricane; Geja's summer cruising the Med; and some notable, quotable Cruise Notes.
Tom and Barb have had 'Ellie' for almost 20 years now. The first 10 involved an extensive restoration of the boat in a tent in their backyard.
at sea. We flew to Bellingham, Washington, at the end of May this year to rejoin our 1967 Ericson 30, Ellie. She had been stored on the hard in a boatyard for eight months and thankfully was in excellent condition for our planned trip to Alaska. We left almost immediately in the company of two other boats: Gypsy Woman, another Ericson 30 skippered by John McDowell, a very experienced sailor from Port Townsend who was embarking on his 10th trip to Alaska; and Sockeye, a beautiful 45-ft wooden trawler built in 1942. The trip to Ketchikan was long and about 80% motoring. John planned our days, telling us when to leave in the morning and where we would anchor in the afternoon. Barb and I felt like little ducklings trailing behind the mother, but 'Ellie' made it to within about half a mile of Sawyer Glacier before the ice got so thick that Tom had to turn around.
he never led us astray, playing the tides and currents masterfully. With currents running an average of 5 knots, that is critical. Day after day, and the farther north we got, the fewer and fewer signs of people we saw, and the scenery became more and more majestic. In fact, in places, the thick foliage grew right down to the water's edge at high tide, which made hiking nearly impossible in many of the remote areas. So I spent a lot of time rowing around for exercise. Barb left from Ketchikan after five weeks together, and I was joined by my sister Nan, from Taos, New Mexico. She's fit as a fiddle, 80 years old, totally fun, and up for anything. We had a wonderful experience checking out Sawyer Glacier at Tracy Arm. We got within about a half mile of the glacier, but the ice became so thick (and I had no interest in damaging Ellie) that we turned around. About a mile from there, we headed for a small bay with a waterfall cascading into the fjord — the idea was to hang out there, have lunch, and wait for the tide to change before we headed 25 miles back to the bay where everybody anchors to access Tracy Arm. The depth right in front of the waterfall, 50 feet from shore, was 65 feet, so we threw out a couple hundred feet of chain and relaxed for lunch as the outflow from the waterfall kept us from swinging onto the beach. The books all say that you can't anchor anywhere up there because it's too deep and the risk of icebergs is too great. They may be right overall, but we felt pretty good that day — so good that we spent the night there, all alone in one of the most beautiful places you can imagine. I was alone for the next thoroughly enjoyable few weeks. One day, sailing wing and wing down the passage on the east coast of Baranof Island, I didn't see a single other boat or structure for eight hours! To me, that is Alaska. About a week after that, I pulled into a bay with a very gently sloping shore, the exact opposite of Tracy Arm. From the anchorage, I spotted what ELLIE
ELLIE
Ellie — Ericson 30 Tom and Barbara Dilworth Northern Exposure Escondido Seasonal cruising has turned out to be a wonderful way to enjoy our grandkids at home and still live a life of adventure
Sisterships 'Ellie' (left) and 'Gypsy Woman' rafted together. Above: 'Ellie' anchored off a waterfall. Center: A hammock is still strung between two trees at "the house of broken dreams." Right: Among fellow cruisers met along the way were Weston and Becca, Colorado residents cruising Alaska on 'Meadowlark' — a Ranger 23!
looked to be a crumbling and abandoned homestead. In the late afternoon, I rowed ashore to check it out. The house, with many furnishings still intact, had peeling wallpaper and a missing exterior wall. There was a rusty lawnmower out back, along with a moss-covered hammock strung between two trees. The scene brought tears to my eyes as I thought that this place was somebody's shattered dream. I don't know when the homestead was abandoned, but I suspect a number