Bijaboji, Bella & Barbara Goss: women rowing the Inside Passage 1937-2007

In 1937 Betty rowed from Puget Sound to Alaska in a dugout canoe as a lone 22-year old - without GPS, a cell phone, VHF or even complete charts, an admirable feat today and astounding for that time. Her book "Bijaboji: North To Alaska by Oar" has become a classic on the Inside Passage life and conditions of the 1930's. 

Her trip inspired many.  The women who built and rowed their own boats in recent years honor Betty's feat and share stories from their voyages. One (Dale McKinnon) in a single row boat. Two (Robin Clark and Sue Dandridge) in a double row boat.

Robin Clark & Sue Dandridge (Barbara Goss) - With separate but similar inspirations and rowing experiences, Robin and Sue discovered they both had a dream to row the Inside Passage and shortly after they met they began planning. They put together a Merry Wherry boat kit and named the boat after Robin's great aunt. In their 2007 trip they covered 750 miles in 28 days. 

Dale McKinnon - Dale was introduced to rowing rather recently and after an initial boatbuilding experience and a rowing trip to Nanaimo and back she was hooked. Subsequently she built another Sam Devlin design (the Bella, named after Dale's granddaughter) and rowed it from Ketchikan to Bellingham. Her talk about her trip will also include observations about the increased isolation of the Inside Passage in the past several decades due to the collapse of logging and fisheries.