Browsing: Slowboat flotilla

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Six Boats in Slowboat Flotilla Cruising Up Inside Passage to Sitka, Alaska

The annual Slowboat Flotilla is heading up the Inside Passage, expecting to reach Sitka, Alaska, around June 5. The trip up the Inside Passage, from Seattle to Alaska, is an awe-inspiring voyage, with majestic vistas of snow-capped mountains, tumbling waterfalls, deep-blue water, remote coves and the possibility of the sudden appearance of whales, eagles and bears. And then there are the open water passages where the next land to the west is across the Pacific in Asia. You can do the Inside Passage on your own, or in a group, such as the Slowboat Flotilla. I’ve done it both ways,…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

Slowboat Flotilla Runs Down West Coast of Vancouver Island, a Quintessential Pacific Northwest Cruise By Peter A. Janssen The Slowboat Flotilla of five cruising boats is now on its third week of running down the west side of Vancouver Island, a quintessential Pacific Northwest cruise in the ocean that isn’t all that popular. Most cruisers in that part of the world take the much more protected Inside Passage, starting on the east side of Vancouver and going up to Alaska. Indeed, the Slowboat people took another flotilla up that way earlier in the summer. The west side of Vancouver is…

Cruising Life
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Slowboat Flotilla Now About A Third of the Way up the Inside Passage to Juneau, Alaska

The annual Slowboat Flotilla up the Inside Passage to Alaska is well underway; indeed, more than a week after they left Roche Harbor on San Juan Island in Washington state the five boats on this year’s cruise are about a third of the way up to Juneau, their final destination. The Flotilla this year is made up of the Nordhavn 40 Cassidy; Ranger Tug 29 Rhapsody; Nordic Tug 37 Safe Harbour; Nordic Tug 34 Airship, and Nordic Tug 37 Fortunate, and so far they have run the gamut of Inside Passage experiences: whales, eagles, dolphins, fog, squalls, sunny days, rapids,…

Cruising Life
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Time to Rethink Your Dink: Get Up Close and Personal to Bears, Whales and Icebergs with a Good, Fast RIB

Here’s a great story that might make you think again about your dinghy. It can be much more than simply a means of getting ashore for provisions or dinner once you’ve dropped the hook after a long day of cruising. Instead, think of it as a vehicle for exploring places you’d never take your big boat, for poking around coves and inlets and shallows without worrying about getting stuck or running aground. A good, fast dinghy, according to these three authors, opens up a sense of adventure; it gets you closer to the environment, not to mention, bears, whales and…

Cruising Life
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Rare, Close-up Pictures of 20 Humpback Whales in Alaska

Here’s a rare treat – some great, close-up pictures of about 20 humpback whales near Hoonah, Alaska, which is west of Juneau and south of Glacier Bay. They were taken by Laura Domela, whose day job is a photographer in Portland, Oregon, but who also cruises on Airship, a Nordic Tug 34, that she runs with her husband, Kevin Morris. They lead the annual Slowboat flotilla from the San Juans up to Sitka. To my mind, much of the appeal of cruising in that part of the world is the random, sudden encounter with whales – and eagles and bears,…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

Slowboat Flotilla to Alaska: Safety – and Fun – in Company The peak cruising season in the Pacific Northwest is just starting, but the Slowboat flotilla has already left Roche Harbor in the San Juans, heading up the Inside Passage to Sitka, Alaska. The flotilla has six boats this year, a Nordhavn 50, West Coast 46, Nordic Tug 42, two Nordic Tug 37s, and a Nordic Tug 34. All the owners are experienced boaters (including some who have lived aboard for 20 years and some who have cruised to Alaska before), but Laura Domela, one of the Slowboat organizers, says…