In April of 2011 I went sailing for the first time. It was a 3 week trip covering 300 miles from the everglades to Key West and back. I fell in love with sailing from the first hour. Five months later I found Genesis in Friday Harbor. Something about the boat just resonated with me. Even the name suggested a great new beginning for me.

I knew even then that I wanted to sail the inside passage. Going to Glacier Bay had been a dream since I first saw a picture of it on the cover of my fourth grade science text book. I felt the journey beginning the day I bought the boat. It began with getting knowledg and experience. I had so much to learn.

Back then I remember asking a friend who sailed, “How much wind can I safely sail in?” I had no idea if 10 knots or 20 knots was a lot. I started reading, going to seminars, practicing on my own and with friends. The best school I had however was racing. I was welcomed aboard several boat in South Sound Sailing Society and thanks to them and the active racing schedule I got out there and learned an enormous amount.

May 6 of this year I left on a trip that would turn out to be much more than a cruise. It was an epic life experience that struck to the very depths of my soul. When someone says “How was your trip?” I don’t respond with the above. I just say, Awesome! But now you know. In this article I’ll try and explain just five experiences that made the trip so meaningful.

One : A far greater sense of self confidence. I had planned on having crew for the whole trip. But at the last minute my crew bailed. I had never singlehanded for more than a day sail. I had never even considered doing the trip solo. I almost canceled. But for reasons I didn’t understand at the time, I suddenly decided to just go and see how far I’d get. I threw out all itineraries and plans. I was just going sailing day by day.

Each plan for next day was built on the previous days successes. The days began to pile up and the miles flowed under the keel, I checked off one first after another. I began to believe that I was capable of doing more and going farther. I rode out a gale in an anchorage in Prince Rupert then timed a weather window for a perfect crossing of Dixon Entrance and for the first time I could say with confidence, I was going to Juneau!

Two: I leaned that there is an intelligence greater than my own. You know how many people say their best ideas come first thing in the morning, or last thing at night or sitting on the toilet? Well those are all quiet times. Times when you let the world go and your mind is still. Sailing alone I lived in that state and consequently I was open to ideas all the time. Where does inspiration come from? I don’t know. God, universal conciseness, or whatever. I don’t think it is simply my brain.

Many times I was nervous about one thing or another. So I dealt with it by breathing, being grateful, appreciating beauty, and loving everything. Hymns from a church I had not gone to for years would pop into my head and without noticing I’d by humming some song over and over. Suddenly I’d realize what I was doing and when I’d listen to the words consciously they would be pertinent and profound.

As the trip turned days into weeks I had many experiences when I suddenly felt that I should reef now, or sail now, or anchor right here. There are so many little moments like this that I can’t discount that I was being guided by an intelligence greater than my own. I’m not that good. I didn’t acknowledge what was happening fully until the day I arrived in Ketchikan and talked to another cruiser who had come across Dixon four days earlier.

They crossed based on a good weather report. I was planning to cross on that same day. But when I got up to go, I just didn’t feel it was right. I stayed despite other going and the favorable forecast, even though I knew it might be my only chance for at least four days. It turns out the forecast was all wrong and they had the worst crossing in 14 years of cruising. The beating they took even broke their radar. I enjoyed a nice day being very productive fixing some issues on Genesis and then sitting out the next storm in Pillsbury Cove. Sitting by my little Dixon furnace I read during the worst of the storm. During lulls I visited with other cruisers, and beach-combed for petroglyphs. It was all very pleasant and when I did leave I had perfect conditions and a fast crossing.

Three: People are so nice. If you put out love you get love. The law of reciprocity, or whatever you want to call it is true. You can bring good things and experiences into you life if you expect it. I met nothing but kind and generous folks both on the water and in towns along the whole trip. From invites aboard yachts for potlucks, to locals offering rides, to shop owners helping with repairs, to fisherman offering fish, everyone had a smile and an open heart. I hope that I gave back enough but I received so much I’m not sure how I could have earned it or repaid it.

Four: This brings me to the fourth big revelation and that is the power of gratitude. This one is still something that I’m trying to grasp but I do know that a big part of receiving good is being grateful for what you have. So when a cruiser would offer me a dinner or something far greater than I could repay, I would make a point of clearing my mind of the temptation for guilt, or for even declining a kind offer because it was too much to ask. They offered willingly and with love and I believe that such an act can never cost them.

As it turns out I was able to repay in very large ways many of these kind acts. A couple I was able to photograph their boats in dramatic scenes, against glaciers, or nosing up to a giant waterfall. Another I was able to pay it forward by diving a boat who’s prop was tangled in a crab trap. Another by acting as guide boat down a very narrow and shallow twisting rock and kelp choked passage called Rocky Pass. And still another who was from San Francisco and needed crew to get his boat back home after dropping off his wife in Poulsbo.

Five: If you need it you’ll have it. However if you worry about it and stress over the possible loss of something or lack of something then you will likely experience that very lack. An example, I had decided that I needed to change the oil in my gear case on my 9.9 hp engine. This is my boats one and only motor by the way. In Ketchikan my crew and I went strait to the outboard shop. I was going to buy oil and figure out a way to remove the engine from the boat, including disconnecting all the controls, lift it off the mount, find a new place to mount it vertical and change the gear oil. I had never done it before, didn’t know how to do it, and am not very mechanical. But I felt it needed to be done. The guy that serviced the engine before I left told me not to worry about it until I got back. However I felt without a doubt I needed to change the oil right then.

The whole story is a bit evolved but the punch line is that I have no mechanical knowledge but was given the right person with the right info exactly at the right time to get the job done. In addition my gear cable that had been cracking broke as we finished the job and the shop we were at had one of the exact cables we needed to replace it.

I think I have a book worth of Revelations I could talk about after this trip. And who knows I might one day. I was able to single hand up to Auke Bay north of Juneau 10 days ahead of my planned schedule. I was able to pick up a crew member and go on to Glacier Bay. At Hoonah I picked up another crew. I had picked both guys off the internet on a cruising forum. I didn’t know either one before the trip. Neither had sailed much. By this time however I was a confident skipper and enjoyed teaching them the ropes. Sailing south as skipper was a fun contrast to being solo. The new dynamic of three guys on a 27 foot boat created opportunity for a whole new set of Revelations.

Authors note:The trip totaled 2879 nm in 110 days. Farthest point North and West was Grand Pacific Glacier at Lat 59 N and 136 W. I sailed about 900 of the 1450 miles north and about 700 of the 1400 miles south. I’m a professional photographer and have assembled a nice slide show of the trip. I’ll be available to do presentations in the near future. Contact me if you have a group that would be interested in seeing and hearing about sailing BC and SE Alaska..

Alan Niles, Genesis

trip photos by Alan