[Paddlewise] humbled

            Last Thursday I had lunch with an elderly member of my
congregation. Millie is in her 90's, still  lives alone and is able to get
around quite well. When I asked her how she first came to Alaska she simply
smiled and said "we canoed".

            The story is that in 1939 she and her husband married at her
family cabin on an island in the Seattle area. They then loaded their cedar
strip 17 foot 34 inch beam canoe and headed north. The canoe was made by the
Wilson brothers who according to Millie was the best canoe of the day.

            The trip took four months "it was about the adventure not the
calendar " Millie said. They would paddle for a couple weeks then befriend
someone at a light house or remote cabin offering to house sit or baby sit
while the family went into town for supplies.

            I asked about the big open waters like Queen Charlotte Sound. She
simply smiled and said they waited a day or so there till the weather was
right. They had trouble in one spot and took on a lot of water but survived.

            I asked her what was the most difficult part of the trip and her
answer was "finding accurate Canadian charts"

            I asked if she had ever thought about writing a story about her
trip but she is content to just share it with friends.

            If you think about it was a remarkable journey, from Seattle to
Ketchikan by open canoe. Even with today's high tech equipment, Kevlar, gore
tex dry suits, carbon fiber paddles ect. I doubt many of us would be will to
under such an adventure in an open boat. Listening to her story I felt quite
humbled.



Bob
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