She Has Lived Alone on a Boat in Alaska for 44 Years

A chance conversation over the VHF radio led us through a narrow entrance on the chart and into one of the most unforgettable encounters of our time cruising Prince William Sound. Nikki has been living and sailing aboard boats in Alaska for more than 44 years. In the early 1980s, she quit her job, learned the basics of sailing at Big Lake near Anchorage, bought a small boat and moved to Valdez. When she realized that waiting for friends or crew meant she would rarely leave the harbor, she began sailing alone. People told her she was crazy. One sailing instructor even wrote that she should never be on a boat. Experienced Alaska cruisers questioned why a woman would go out alone. Many men were unwilling to share their mechanical knowledge with her. She went anyway. Over the following decades, Nikki explored Prince William Sound, learned marine electrical systems and diesel heat, installed and repaired equipment, operated a sewing business from aboard, and built much of her present steel boat around the way she actually lives. Her vessel is based on a Dutch fishing design known as a sailing scow, with a shallow hull and a mast designed to fold down. Inside, nearly every system reflects decades of problem-solving: hydraulic propulsion, hydronic heating, a large battery bank, custom fuel and water systems, an old Sailrite sewing machine, a boat garden and countless modifications completed by Nikki herself. She is the captain, engineer, mechanic, electrician, seamstress and caretaker. Nikki spends summers anchored throughout Prince William Sound, sometimes going three or four weeks without seeing another boat. Her home port is Valdez, Alaska, where Audrey grew up, and she even remembers seeing Alaskan Gypsy while the schooner was being built in Anchorage during the early 1990s. What began as a spontaneous radio call became a conversation about independence, aging, solitude, Alaska history, self-reliance and the courage to build a life that other people may not understand. This is not simply a tour of an unusual steel sailboat. It is the story of a woman who stopped waiting for permission, taught herself what she needed to know and spent more than four decades creating a life on the water. Welcome aboard Nikki’s extraordinary floating home in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Subscribe to follow our family’s life aboard Alaskan Gypsy, our 80-foot steel schooner, as we explore Alaska, restore our own vessel and meet the remarkable people who live along its remote coastline. Chapters: 00:00 A stranger on the radio knows Gypsy 00:50 Entering an uncharted-looking anchorage 02:06 A woman living aboard for 44 years 03:15 The little black Gypsy 03:38 Meeting Nikki 04:34 Growing a garden on a boat 06:40 Inside her floating home 07:20 Watching the anchor from bed 08:25 A Dutch sailing-scow design 09:25 The systems she installed herself 10:40 Learning without mentors 11:25 One of the first Sailrite machines 15:30 Comparing our marine sewing machines 18:30 Custom tanks and onboard workspaces 19:35 Heating a boat through an Alaska winter 21:50 Why she cooks with kerosene 22:58 Living without a generator 23:20 Hydraulic propulsion and engine power 25:05 “I’m the everything” 27:45 Ten batteries beneath the floor 29:00 The serious subject: marine toilets 33:10 Ballast, condensation and winter living 35:20 Two captains need two boats 36:15 Decades exploring Prince William Sound 37:20 More than 500 anchorages 45:18 Why she quit her job to learn sailing 45:45 The instructor who said she would fail 47:15 Moving to Valdez in 1982 48:00 Learning she would have to sail alone 50:20 Building a life aboard this boat 50:50 Why Prince William Sound is still home 01:04:59 The people who inspired Audrey 01:06:16 They told Nikki she was crazy 01:07:39 At what point have you proved it? 01:08:15 Preserving an old Alaska cruising guide 01:09:51 Weeks alone in the anchorage 01:10:14 Saying goodbye to Nikki