Students in Scubi Jew and Hillel at Eckerd College hold a board meeting aboard the Ally’s Way. Photos courtesy of Rabbi Ed Rosenthal
Scubi Jew—an Eckerd College club focused on “diving with a purpose” by mixing faith and conservation—just revamped its boat, Ally’s Way, by transitioning it to a completely solar-powered vessel.
The president of Scubi Jew, junior animal studies and psychology student Gabby Fulford from Overland Park, Kansas, says she is excited for the freedom the solar power will give the club. With a gas-powered boat, there is a constant need for physical resources that are depleted, she adds. Fulford looks forward to more Dives against Debris and other cruises, and urges interested students to reach out.
“We can’t wait to get out there and change the world, one piece of trash at a time,” she says. Companies Xantrex, Mastry and Vetus came together to support Scubi Jew’s marine conservation efforts by converting the club’s boat to a fully electric-propulsion system with solar power to recharge its batteries for longer cruising distances, according to Hillel at Eckerd College.
The 34-foot Sea Ray cruiser was named Ally’s Way after Allison “Ally” Willen ’16, who tragically died in a hiking accident in 2015. Only 20 years old, she’d been spending a semester in New Zealand at the University of Otago. During her time at Eckerd, she’d been a member of Scubi Jew and served on the Hillel Board.
Senior Aidan Webster (center) joins other students and Scubi Jew Program Director Josh Keller ’19 (second from left) for an environmental dive.
To memorialize what a great person and environmentalist Ally was, the club had wanted to name a boat after her and to use it to aid the environment, explains Campus Rabbi Ed Rosenthal, who has worked with the Hillel at Eckerd College student group for 15 years.
“Nobody goes on that boat who doesn’t hear the story of Ally Willen,” Rosenthal says. “She was that amazing.”
The club had purchased the boat in 2018, but around three years ago, its starboard engine conked out. Rosenthal had said that because the boat was older, it wouldn’t be long before the port engine failed too. As the club debated how to handle a repair that could cost thousands of dollars, students asked themselves a question: Why replace such a gas-guzzling engine?
“We thought, what can we do to make this an environmentally friendly boat that’s aligned with our mission?” Rosenthal says.
Over several years and with assistance from several companies, a team effort emerged to recreate and redesign the entire propulsion system. Ally’s parents, Todd and Michelle Willen, donated funds to make the metamorphosis possible.
When Rosenthal had first reached out to the Willens to share the situation, they asked an interesting question. Rosenthal says they asked him, “Is the boat worth it?”
“And I said, ‘Is the boat worth it? Absolutely not,’” Rosenthal explains, “‘but the mission makes it absolutely necessary.’”
The Willens agreed that the environmental mission that Ally’s Way helps fulfill while keeping her memory alive is what’s crucial.
Rosenthal says Ally’s Way is fully functional now but is still using shore power to charge its batteries while the club waits for the final solar panels, which should arrive in the coming weeks.
“That will put her completely off the grid,” he says.
The club will continue to use the upgraded boat for Dive Against Debris events, which often are difficult due to low visibility but advance conservation efforts by removing debris that pollutes the water and harms marine life. To participate in a Dive, students must have their scuba diving certification and 10 completed dives beyond that.
Ed and wife Mindy Rosenthal’s daughter, Gabe Rosenthal ’16, was Ally’s roommate at Eckerd, and the rabbi remembers how the two were inseparable, saying, “She was like a second daughter to us.”
So keeping Ally’s memory alive and keeping up the work that students in Scubi Jew are doing, he explains, is the necessary mission.
