PORTLAND & RICHMOND, Calif.- Ely Omega LeBlanc-Simpson, 40, of Portland, parted ways with our kind at 09:33 on July 24, 2023. Sudden and unexpected, his passing occurred while performing routine shipboard duties at dock in the Port of Richmond. Present at the time were the boat’s captain and fellow crewmates, who acted with haste to come to his aid. To the relief of his family, is the knowledge that he was not alone.

Ely spent most of his working life at sea as a merchant seaman, and an appreciable amount of his recreational time as well. He worked for Sause Brothers Ocean Towing Co., an ocean hauling firm in Coos Bay, Oregon and at the time of his death was stationed on the tug Mikiona. He was a hawsepiper, meaning he worked his way up through the ranks acquiring the requisite skill and experience as he went along. According to his captain and friend, Allen Hovden, this was an accomplishment Ely was very proud of. He will always be remembered by his captains and shipmates over the years as a voracious reader, an adept cribbage opponent, a poet working exclusively in the medium of messages in bottles, and a prankster nonpareil. (He was widely regarded as a man whose tea it wouldn’t be wise to put siracha in).

Ely’s early years were spent in Portland, Maine, where his love of exploring took root. He was very familiar with the rocky coastline of mid-coast Maine and worked for several seasons out of Camden as a deckhand and cook aboard the schooner Appledore II. The time he spent on the Appledore was life changing and transformative. Ely’s first long-distance haul was spent above and below the wooden decks of that schooner, accompanying her and her crew to winter port in Key West.

When he returned from that trip, in particular, it was evident to those who knew him that he had discovered something new within himself, the possibility of a fulfilling life and vocation that suited his irrefutably unique and intrepid nature. That trip, and the many previous hours logged aboard the Appledore precipitated what became a ravenous pursuit of a life at sea.

The oceans were not his only avenue for adventure. He loved to travel, whether it was abroad or local, to New England or the Pacific Northwest, and often through his own curiosity, sought out the unusual, the esoteric, and the mundane. He was a meticulous planner and anyone who travelled alongside him would attest that, before any departure, his approach was to always to have a course charted and the stores checked. A deep aspiration of his was to visit as many of the wonders of the world as was possible. With a close friend, he visited several, including Stonehenge and the Great Pyramids of Egypt and had many more voyages planned.

He will be sorely missed by all.

Ely was predeceased by his brother Ezra Simpson and his father Vaughan LeBlanc.

He is survived by siblings, Ivan LeBlanc-Simpson, Logan LeBlanc-Simpson, India Sprague, all of Portland and his twin brother Amos LeBlanc of Brooklyn, N.Y., his mother Nancy Simpson and his partner Althea Pajak, both of Portland, and his uncle Michael LeBlanc of Pittsfield.

A memorial gathering for family and friends to remember Ely and say goodbye will be held on Wednesday, August 9, from 12 to 1:30 p.m., in Wilde Memorial Chapel at Evergreen Cemetery, 672 Stevens Avenue in Portland, with burial to follow in Evergreen Cemetery. Friends are encouraged to bring stories to share.

In lieu of flowers, if desired, the family suggests a donation to the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, as the sea was Ely’s second home. http://www.mcht.org/about-us

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