Verl spent over six years cruising Mexico and Hawaii in the late 1970's aboard his ferro cement 32' cutter with a wood box mast, galvanized rigging wormed and served with marline, and two large CQR's on a manual windlass. He had a main, a staysail, and a Yankee. A simple man, a simple boat, a simple trip that took him a long way through life. He had a hard dinghy stored on deck, started off his long trip with a Ray Jeff AM transceiver and in the end had no radio at all. Steering for the entire trip was either by hand or by staysail sheet to tiller with surgical tubing counter. He sailed before GPS and used a WWII bronze air sextant to navigate via Robert Kitteridge's simple system with H.O. 249. Paper charts and pilot charts guided his timing. He had no insurance on the boat nor on himself. He felt that he got himself into any messes and would get himself out....or not. He never made a distress call nor needed one.

I was lucky enough to sail in Hawaii with him in the summer of '80, then to sail back 3800 miles to the PacNW in 29 1/2 days in August of 1980. He was easygoing yet thorough in his preperation despite travelling simply.

For a 20k lb boat his motor was a 13 h.p. Finnish twin cylinder that served well those years but packed it in coming up the Columbia upon our return. We managed to sail the last fifty miles up the river, which is rare for the winds, and came sliding home hot to an outside tie under sail and I leapt from the boat, caught the cleat with the stern line and it stretched, I swear, to "C" above "High C" until Suhail settled into the dock and we were home! A glorious sail on a glorious day with a glorious ending to a long journey for us and the ending of cruising for him. Despite living aboard for many years until Alzheimer's put him ashore, he was never able to get out beyond the river again.

Verl's singular gift was an easy affability that made friend's wherever he went. He always anchored out the farthest, rowed the longest to the surf line or the beach of anyone. Despite being disabled in some ways he was a most able man. He liked a lot of sugar in his coffee. I'll miss him.