40january/february 2017cruisingworld.coma source of free products, Patagonia has
been one of Liz’s primary sources of
income ever since.
Another interest of the sailing and
surfi ng environmentalist is writing. A
year into Swell’s refi t, Liz had already
sold a couple of stories to Surfer maga-
zine. Her blog was garnering a following,
and Latitude 38, a West Coast sailing
magazine, began reporting on her plans
and her refi t progress.
Finally, on a mid-October day in 2005,
with the sun still working to pierce
morning coastal fog, Liz motored out ofSanta Barbara Harbor. “I was nervous,
overwhelmed, excited, scared, victorious,
and wondering whether I’d bitten off
more than I could chew,” she said.
She ended up spending another month
in a harbor farther south. There she fi n-
ished projects like reinforcing the bow
pulpit, installing an autopilot, and building
a cradle and pulley system for a fi xed spin-
naker pole. “I’d felt pressure to cut the dock
lines in Santa Barbara. It was two weeks
later than the departure date I’d given the
news papers,” she said, “and I’d found it
impossible to get any work done becausecurious people were always coming up to
the boat to chat about my trip.”
Liz spent the next couple of years
between California and Panama, learning
even more about her boat, sailing and
weather. In 2007, she left the Galápagos
with her mother as crew and landed 21
days later in the Marquesas. Since that
voyage, Liz has made several long passages
north of the equator, up the Line Islands,
to escape cyclone season. She’s spent all of
her time thus far in the Pacifi c, with plans
to move on when it feels right.
Every day Liz dresses in fl ip-fl ops
and swimwear. She maintains her boat
and tends to sundry life chores, but
spends the bulk of her time writing,
sailing, surfi ng, hiking and preaching the
gospel of environmental awareness and
sustainable living.
The organization Women in the World
recently profi led Liz for The New York
Times. This past year, she was a National
Geographic Adventurer of the Year fi nalist.
Throughout the past decade, Liz’s online
presence has grown massively. Readers
cheered her on when for months she was
in and out of a Polynesian boatyard, hot
and sweaty, battling a persistent leak that
she ultimately determined stemmed from
Swell’s corroded bronze shaft tube. Fans
from afar donated a headsail when hers
could go no more.
Fulfi lled dreams are contagious. In
2005, my wife and I were staring hard
at the 20 years that remained before
we’d realize our post-retirement cruising
dream. We watched Liz cast off , and less
than six months later, we started a fi ve-
year clock on our own cruising dream.
Rather than go as a couple with white
hair, we would launch as a family. In 2011,
we sailed away in Swell’s wake. These days,
in part because of Liz, I’m not staring at
vanilla-colored offi ce walls; I’m exploring
South Pacifi c reefs with a mask and
snorkel, my family around me.
Liz has inspired many of the current
generation of young, adventure-seeking
cruisers aboard classic-plastic sailboats.
More than 1,000 nautical miles after
meeting her, I shared an anchorage
with Matt and Brittany Erickson, young
cruisers aboard an Ericson 35 called Tipsea.
Matt smiled when I mentioned that we’d
met Liz in French Polynesia. “I would
never have known about cruising — I’d
never be out here — if it wasn’t for Liz
Clark,” he said. “I was a teenage surfer
when I fi rst started reading about her. She
absolutely inspired me from day one.”Michael Robertson and his family are cruising
the Pacifi c aboard their Fuji 40, Del Viento.
Follow along on the Robertsons’ adventures at
cruisingworld.com/delviento.SAILOR PROFILECRW0217_PRO_SP_map2.indd 40 11/21/16 11:15 AM