Torries

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january/february 2017

cruisingworld.com

the world. In the years that

followed, on sailing trips with

her dad between her Southern

California home port and the

nearby Channel Islands, Liz

stood at the helm, pretending

nobody else was aboard. Then

she found herself suddenly in

her 20s, not circumnavigating

but tending bar. She’d long

passed the point where pre-

tending suffi ced.

She didn’t own a boat, but

she had a surfb oard. For Liz,

surfi ng was a second pas-

sion. She’d competed for

the University of California

and was named the College

Women’s National Surfi ng

Champion in 2002. But

post-graduation, as she sat

on her board outside familiar

breaks, her attention was often

drawn seaward. She wondered

about undiscovered surf spots

over the horizon, ones she

longed to visit on a boat of her

own. As happens to many plans

and ambitions on the path to

adulthood, Liz’s could have

been forgotten. But she stayed

focused. There wasn’t anyone

in her life at that time who

didn’t know about her dream.

Liz was working at yet

another catering gig when

someone at the party asked her

whether she’d ever met pro-

fessor Barry Schuyler.

“Nope,” Liz replied.

“You should,” the guest said.

“He’s over there.”

More than a retired, white-

haired academic, Dr. Arent

“Barry” Schuyler was a sailor.

He quickly invited Liz to join

other students and profes-

sors for a weekend sailing trip.

Sailor Barry and sailor Liz hit

it off , and they kept in touch as

time passed.

About a year after fi nishing

her degree, Liz ran into

Barry again. At 80, he was

fi nding sailing to be more

diffi cult. He saw in his friend

Liz a chance for a vicarious

sailing adventure. The aging

professor off ered the young

dreamer his Contessa 26 to

sail around the world.

For a blissful summer, Liz

stole every day she could to

sail Freya. Not only was she

alone at the helm of this pre-

cious gift, but Freya was the

same model boat that Aebi,

the teen circumnavigator who

inspired her, had sailed around

the world. Liz enjoyed beam-

reach sailing out to Santa

Cruz and San Miguel islands.

She beat north almost 100

miles from Santa Catalina

Island. She got slammed off

Point Conception, getting

pooped several times over

the low transom. Although

Liz thought the Contessa was

an excellent sailing boat, she

found it to be a poor home.

“I couldn’t stand up straight

in the cabin, there wasn’t

room to host even one friend

aboard, and bringing surf-

boards would have been nearly

impossible,” she told us. “At

that point I was a total surf

rat. My sailing dream was as

much about surfi ng as circum-

navigating. Freya wasn’t quite

big enough to live that dream.

It was really hard to come to

realize this. I felt like I was

passing up my only chance.”

Regretfully, she returned

Freya to her patron. He was

understanding, though she was

devastated and again a sailor

without a boat.

“A couple of weeks later,”

Liz said, “Barry called me with

a new proposal: Save half the

money needed to buy the boat

that’s right for me, and he’d

match it.”

Ultimately, together Liz and

Barry purchased Swell. The

seeds of her future were sown

— and the 1966 boat needed

an extensive refi t.

For the next 30 months,

Liz bloodied her knuckles and

washed dirt and dust from her

hair each night. She used all the

time she wasn’t waiting tables

to prepare for an extended solo

voyage. She apprenticed with a

sailmaker, an electrician and a

rigger. She studied at night for

her ham radio license. Word

spread through the Southern

California sailing scene about

the determined 20-something

sprite with the 40-foot sailboat

and big plans.

A local marine mechanic

donated a replacement boom

and mentored her on projects.

Friends and family donated

labor and supplies. Barry

became an active member of

her ground crew, weighing

in on the refi t to ensure the

boat was prepped for off shore

work. He and Liz plotted her

voyage together. Every bit as

much as the girl who hatched

it, he wanted to see this

dream realized.

After a local newspaper ran

a story about the surfer and

the professor, Patagonia con-

tacted Liz and asked her to be

one of its brand ambassadors.

Liz’s enthusiasm went beyond

the sport and the lifestyle; her

passion for environmental

awareness also aligned with

the brand’s focus. More than

Liz’s cat, Amelia (top), has been her onboard companion for

more than three years. Swell (center) is a 1966 Cal 40 that

needed a major refi t to make seaworthy. Liz (above) is a pas-

sionate environmentalist and eats a vegan diet aboard Swell.

COURTESY OF LIZ CLARK

CRW0217_PRO_SP_map2.indd 39 11/21/16 11:15 AM