Mark and Helga Wilkins fondly remember Alaska cruising
December 30, 2008
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| Mark and Helga Wilkins started boating with a small Puget Trawler. Ten years and two boats later, they settled on their Dyna Craft 53 as the boat they wanted to take their summer long cruises up the Inside Passage of Alaska. |
By Carl Kelly / Special to the Sun Times
Mark and Helga Wilkins were not boaters. But 30 years ago, they abruptly took up the boater's lifestyle, sort-of, as therapy.
Helga Wilkins explained.
"We started boating because Mark had a very serious throat problem that required surgery. Since he wasn't able to talk, that limited our activities. I saw a boat show advertisement and decided to go. That's where we saw the little Puget Trawlers that were made in Taiwan."
They bought one, took a Coast Guard-boating course, and began cruising.
"We kept that boat in the San Francisco Bay-area for five years," she continued, "explored the bay and the delta. Then, we decided to do something else.
"We moved to Seattle and got a 48-footer that was also made in Taiwan. We went to Taiwan to watch it put into the water for the first time. We kept that in Seattle for five years, explored there, and took two trips up to Alaska.
"Then," she continued, "we decided 48 was still a little bit too small, so we bought a 53. It had twin Caterpillar engines. Now, we had all the room we needed and all the facilities we wanted."
Plan
Mark Wilkins added, "Now, we knew how the boat should be, so we were able to help plan it out."
"They had the basic plan," Helga Wilkins continued his thought, "and we lengthened the hull and lengthened the fishing cockpit in the back and made some other basic adjustments."
"We called it Flamingo," Mark Wilkins said. "We took that to Alaska three times. We'd go every other year."
Flamingo was a Dyna Craft 53. Her beam was 22.5 feet and her draft, 3.5.
"We kept it on Vancouver Island," Mark Wilkins said. "We would go to Vancouver in June and stay on board until September and head north."
"We'd take all summer doing our trip to Alaska," Helga Wilkins commented. "We'd just go up slowly.
"Mark was still consulting at that time," she noted.
" … with Lawrence Livermore Laboratories," he filled in.
Anchored up north
"Mark was a physicist. Sometimes, Mark would be called back and we'd be anchored way up north someplace. There was always a little marina or a small Indian village. Mark would fly out on one of those little Beavers, the little float planes.
"So, he'd take off and I'd be up there and wait for him to come back."
"So, she'd have to hold the fort for a week or so."
"It was always exciting," she said. "Most of the time when we were cruising, we'd anchor up, because there aren't that many marinas. The first stop would be Ketchikan. Then we'd go up through Glacier Bay, and way up there.
"They were just little fishing villages. There were always nice people there. That's half the fun of it. You meet nice people cruising."
She gave an example.
"We met a couple who had sailed around the world three times with their two children and were on their way to Los Angeles, taking their daughter to college at UCLA."
At age 90, they no longer cruise, but they have rich memories.
- Capt. Carl has held his USCG captain's license since 1994. If you have questions or would like to make suggestions for this column, contact Capt. Carl at
marcocaptain@comcast.net.
Helga Wilkins explained.
"We started boating because Mark had a very serious throat problem that required surgery. Since he wasn't able to talk, that limited our activities. I saw a boat show advertisement and decided to go. That's where we saw the little Puget Trawlers that were made in Taiwan."
They bought one, took a Coast Guard-boating course, and began cruising.
"We kept that boat in the San Francisco Bay-area for five years," she continued, "explored the bay and the delta. Then, we decided to do something else.
"We moved to Seattle and got a 48-footer that was also made in Taiwan. We went to Taiwan to watch it put into the water for the first time. We kept that in Seattle for five years, explored there, and took two trips up to Alaska.
"Then," she continued, "we decided 48 was still a little bit too small, so we bought a 53. It had twin Caterpillar engines. Now, we had all the room we needed and all the facilities we wanted."
Plan
Mark Wilkins added, "Now, we knew how the boat should be, so we were able to help plan it out."
"They had the basic plan," Helga Wilkins continued his thought, "and we lengthened the hull and lengthened the fishing cockpit in the back and made some other basic adjustments."
"We called it Flamingo," Mark Wilkins said. "We took that to Alaska three times. We'd go every other year."
Flamingo was a Dyna Craft 53. Her beam was 22.5 feet and her draft, 3.5.
"We kept it on Vancouver Island," Mark Wilkins said. "We would go to Vancouver in June and stay on board until September and head north."
"We'd take all summer doing our trip to Alaska," Helga Wilkins commented. "We'd just go up slowly.
"Mark was still consulting at that time," she noted.
" … with Lawrence Livermore Laboratories," he filled in.
Anchored up north
"Mark was a physicist. Sometimes, Mark would be called back and we'd be anchored way up north someplace. There was always a little marina or a small Indian village. Mark would fly out on one of those little Beavers, the little float planes.
"So, he'd take off and I'd be up there and wait for him to come back."
"So, she'd have to hold the fort for a week or so."
"It was always exciting," she said. "Most of the time when we were cruising, we'd anchor up, because there aren't that many marinas. The first stop would be Ketchikan. Then we'd go up through Glacier Bay, and way up there.
"They were just little fishing villages. There were always nice people there. That's half the fun of it. You meet nice people cruising."
She gave an example.
"We met a couple who had sailed around the world three times with their two children and were on their way to Los Angeles, taking their daughter to college at UCLA."
At age 90, they no longer cruise, but they have rich memories.
- Capt. Carl has held his USCG captain's license since 1994. If you have questions or would like to make suggestions for this column, contact Capt. Carl at
marcocaptain@comcast.net.