Christine Smith of Northwest Navigation and the David B authors a series of articles about cruising the Inside Passage…
Sticking to it- When we bought the David B in 1998, we knew that we’d be battling a lot of uncertainty. First we needed to rebuild the boat, a project which we initially thought would take two years, but instead took eight. Then we needed to learn how to run our business, get people’s attention, […]
Most people who are thinking about cruising in the Inside Passage already have the skills, techniques and ability to handle a boat. In other words, they are practiced in seamanship. To cruise to Alaska, there are several areas of seamanship that you need to feel comfortable with, and which I’ve already covered in this series. […]
Cruising in the Inside Passage should be on every boater’s Must-Do List. The rewards for making the trip to Alaska are interesting towns and villages to visit, amazing natural beauty and a wild and remote feel you can’t find elsewhere. The southern part of the Inside Passage from Seattle to Desolation Sound is chic with […]
Safe cruising in the Inside Passage means having the right charts, but this can be confusing and expensive. You have to know which charts and how much detail you think you need. Do you want electronic only or will you carry paper charts? For your electronic charts, which software will you use, and do you […]
When we bought the David B, it did not have any electronics, or an electrical system for that matter. So we needed to plan for our electronics package. Jeffrey’s experience as a professional mariner helped him make educated choices about which electronics were mandatory, which were simply nice to have, and what was just icing […]
(3rd Article in a Series ) March and April are outfitting months on the David B. It’s the time of year when we prepare the boat for our Inside Passage trips. Throughout the years we’ve developed a checklist of equipment that we need to have on board, and another list of items we need to […]
In a couple of months we’ll be taking the David B on a 12-day trip from Bellingham to Ketchikan. Our cruise is a learning cruise we’ve created for other boaters who are interested in a hands-on experience in the Inside Passage. We’ve done this trip for several years in a row now and each year […]
The beginning of a series born from a partnership with Christine Smith and Northwest Navigation and Cruising Northwest! Cruising the Inside Passage first caught my imagination in 1998 when Jeffrey and I decided we wanted to own and operate a tour boat in the San Juan Islands and Alaska. In 2006 we began offering tours on our […]