`HOUSEBOAT ERIC'
Sometimes friendships begin in unconventional ways. I wrote “An Eclectic History of Mendocino County” in 2019. In the section on hippies and the Back-to-the-land movement, I included a photo of a handbuilt houseboat on Big River.
When the book came out, Albion resident Tom Wodetzki told me, “That's Houseboat Eric's creation…he'd love to know it was included in your book!” and gave me Eric's address. “Houseboat Eric” is Neil Erickson, and he arrived on the coast in 1968. I sent him a copy of my book, and we became pen-pals.
Eric was a carpenter, a gardener, and, unknown to many, a Korean War veteran. After 50 years on the coast, he needed some extra help in his life and applied for admission to the Veterans Home in Yountville. Then came the pandemic and Veterans Homes stopped taking new admissions. He stayed with family in the Midwest for two years, waiting for the doors to open again for elder soldiers home in the Napa Valley.
Visiting the Vet's Home, I found a happy, healthy 88-year-old full of enthusiasm and good stories and full of questions about Mendocino Coast folks. From old friends and acquaintances, Eric would love visits or letters addressed to Neil Erickson, Veterans Home of California, Holderman Building H2C10A, 260 California Dr, Yountville, CA 94599.
Some background on Eric — while many folks were doing interesting lifestyle variations in the 1970s on the coast, living in a houseboat was unique. Eric found an unfinished houseboat on Big River, little more than a cabin frame 25'x15' on a raft, and bought it. Heated by wood, it had a composting toilet and cats because mice loved the place. He became so adept at moving it into side channels of the river that he could fit into a 3' deep spot 16' wide.
Eric says he wasn't much of a fish eater, but he remembers clams, crab, and seaweed as food sources. In 29 years of river life, he had only one confrontation with a mountain lion and enjoyed observing beavers and otters. For a time, he had a partner Ellynn (Cedar), and a daughter Fawn, who now lives in Brooklyn.
For eight years, he worked in the gardens of the Seagull Restaurant, raising the flowers that decorated tables. He would canoe from his houseboat to the mainland, tie up, and climb a steep bluff to get to work. He had a mountain bike hidden on a logging company road and would bicycle past the locked gate to Comptche Ukiah Rd. He had his truck parked and drive to town. His commute took him an hour each way.
Sharing another great story, he said he and Nat Bingham figured they could tow the houseboat to Albion behind Nat's boat. The tow line broke, and they were in Mendocino Bay with visions of the houseboat wrecked on Portuguese Beach, but the next day they found the boat washed back up Big River.
A friend asked me if Eric missed nature, but the Vets Home is surrounded by beautiful landscaping on a site 510 acres in size that has been helping Vets since 1882. The building he lives in is 90 years old, and more than 500 Vets, women soldiers, and married couples live on the grounds. He showed us his tiny room and beautiful old public areas where Vets gather. A $269 million replacement hospital is being built now.
Wanting to take him a treat that tasted like his old Mendocino stomping grounds, we took him jam made from wild Himalaya Blackberries and smoked salmon from Roundman's Smoke House. The real treat was meeting a pen pal in person and sharing news of the coast. If any readers remember “Houseboat Eric,” he'd love a letter or a visit.
While many folks were doing interesting lifestyle variations in the 1970s on the coast, living in a houseboat was unique. Eric found an unfinished houseboat on Big River, little more than a cabin frame 25'x15' on a raft, and bought it. Heated by wood, it had a composting toilet and cats because mice loved the place. He became so adept at moving it into side channels of the river that he could fit into a 3' deep spot 16' wide.