Returning from a recent visit to the San Juan Islands I recalled that my husband, Paul, and his co-workers had met San Juan Island's Greatest Adventurer, author Ernest K. Gann, in 1972. Paul and his co-workers had chartered a sailboat to explore Puget Sound for four or five days. One day about dusk they were walking along the dock at Roche Harbor Resort where they were staying on their sailboat. They saw this jewel of a power boat about 32 feet long. It was fashioned like a tugboat, beautifully made with quality throughout.
While they were admiring the boat, Ernest Gann walked up. His son who was first mate on a freighter, was with him. The men talked to Ernest Gann and his son for a few minutes, especially Ernest, about his boat which had recently been newly refitted. Ernest and his son were civil and answered the men's questions but were obviously more interested in continuing their own talk which the men had interrupted.
Ernest Gann's major works include the novel "The High and the Mighty" and his aviation focused, near-autobiography "Fate Is the Hunter".
In 1966 Ernest and his second wife, Dodie, purchased Red Mill Farm, an 800-acre spread on San Juan Island, Washington. They later donated the bulk of their ranch to the San Juan Preservation Trust. On December 19, 1991, Gann died at San Juan Island, at the age of 81. In Friday Harbor, a cafe named "Ernie's Cafe" was opened in honor of his accomplishments.
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