History

Barn’s burnt down —

now

I can see the Moon.

I had this Haiku Poem on the sun visor of my Truck for a few months before its meaning sank in. Sometimes I am just too literal-minded, but when you’re in the midst of turmoil, it is hard to focus on anything but pain. A friend, who understood that out of a crisis could come positive change, gave the poem to me.  It was about that time that I finally grasped its meaning, and the idea of the Ellie K came to me.

It was at the end of my 14-year marriage that I took a self-finding trip to the Bahamas, Florida, Virginia and Maine.  While in Maine, I stumbled upon the boatmaker Sam Devlin’s website, which sparked the memory of a book I saw once, on the coffee table of a friend who used it as a reference for teaching a weekend father/son boatbuilding siminar.  Devlin Boats is based in Olympia, Washington.  Reading that, I thought, wow, seems like a nice place to look to land, close to Portland and on salt water.  That was when I thought of building my own boat.  So on a sunny July day in 2004, I sat and visited with Sam and his workers on a 29’ Black Crown, and looked at his boats. I also looked at many other boats that week, but kept coming back to the traditional lines and rich features of the Devlin Boat.

I talked with Sam and had a drawing done; the fire was lit.  I sold my house in Portland. On my 49th birthday in September 2004, I signed both the divorce settlement papers and the commissioning contract with Sam.  Over the next 17-months, Sam and I together built this one-of-a-kind cruiser. We collaborated well and amazingly agreed on everything about the boat except the color. The design and construction process was an incredible experience – I am so thankful to have experienced his art.  Making Ellie K saved me during a difficult time.  It provided focus and a sense of accomplishment and a renewed sense that dreams still can come true.  We launched at High Tide, December 15th 2005, on the full moon.

To return to blog, go to the bottom of the page and select Archives.