One of the first Native American woman tour boat captains loves what she does

Elaine Greyeyes enjoys every day of her job as a tour boat captain on Lake Powell.

“Every day is different. The way the sun hits, and you watch people’s faces and you see how they feel about it,” Elaine Greyeyes said with a smile.

After more than a decade and a half gliding through the crystal water of Lake Powell this tour boat captain still faces each day with excitement. She knows she will spend a few hours with a new group of people from all walks of life and from all over the world, delivering them on a ride they will likely remember for a lifetime.

Elaine doesn’t fit the description of a typical tour boat caption. She said many people are surprised to see her at the helm. Nevertheless, her passengers soon relax as her keen, dark eyes stay riveted on the waters ahead, and her warm smile comes across the intercom pointing out landmarks such as Tower Butte, Gunsight and Padre Bay. Her Native American accent adds to the atmosphere of the rugged mesas and buttes surrounding the striking desert scene.

Elaine knows this landscape well. From April to October for 11 seasons, she’s guided countless camera-wielding travelers through wide bays and narrow passages to destinations such as Rainbow Bridge, or on a classic dinner cruise around Lone Rock. Her job doesn’t feel like a job, and each day she is excited to get up and go to work, she said. That’s notable, given that each day she drives more than 60 miles one-way to and from her home at Inscription House on the Navajo Nation to her starting point at Wahweap Marina.

Possibly one of the best things about being a tour boat captain is the fact that it’s something Elaine never imagined herself doing. Looking back, she remembers working in Page for awhile before getting hired on at the marina. Both of these kept her inside. “I remember looking out and wondering, ‘What’s going on down at the lake’,” she said. She soon found out as she got a new job as a deck hand and for five seasons helped out on the tour boats. Lake Powell, with canyons spindling off in all directions is known to confuse even experienced navigators. Elaine learned the lay of the land and the lake, knowing where the shallows were and which canyons led to where, as well as which ones to steer clear of.

It was another captain who realized her potential. “I thought, ‘Oh, no. I can’t do that,’ but he said, ‘Yes, you can,’ and he taught me to drive a boat,” she remembers. With his mentoring and a lot of encouragement from her husband, Elaine studied for and passed the rigid test required by the U.S. Coast Guard to become the first Native American women to become a tour boat captain on Lake Powell.

Over the years, she’s seen countless tourists from all over the world step on and off her boat. Some come back faithfully every year or two and request Elaine’s tour. Treasured friendships have developed with people she would have otherwise never met.

On the other hand, she chuckles at the reaction she gets from some tourists when they realize she’s the captain. Some people don’t give it a thought, but others, depending on where they are from, will make comments. “One gentleman told me I should be home raising babies,” she remembers with a smile. A mother to four grown boys and a teenage daughter, Elaine just lets the comments roll off. Sometimes, the disbelief is a little closer to home, however. When her daughter was younger, she told her teacher that her mom was a boat captain, but came home crying because no one believed her. Elaine quietly chuckles again, “I was only a couple weeks from my due date with her when I took the test.”

Despite a few non-believers, Elaine said it’s smooth sailing nearly every day. With 11 years under her belt she relies on instinct and training to make sure each passenger steps off her boat with a camera full of great photos and a lifetime memory of gliding across one of America’s most fascinating waters.

On this lake named after one of America’s greatest western explorers, Elaine has become a trailblazer in her own right, inspiring other women to join the ranks. Paula Thompson of Big Water recently became a captain herself. Right now, she is gaining experience as a deckhand before she takes the helm. Some days she gets to work alongside Elaine.

“Elaine is great. She’s an inspiration,” Thompson said.

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