A small ship cruise aboard the David B is an experience that will refresh and invigorate your mind and body. The David B is a beautifully restored 65′ (20m) former workboat, where you’ll enjoying seeing wildlife first-hand, learning about the ecosystems in the environments that you’re cruising through, leaving you with a new knowledge and respect for this beautiful planet.
The David B Experience is a nature based vacation. Much of what we enjoy about running the David B as a small charter boat, is sharing our knowledge of the interesting plants and animals that call the Pacific Northwest home. Aboard the David B, you’ll enjoy watching whales, close enough to listen to their breath. You can kayak along the beach on one of our cruises in Alaska, moving with silent paddles in search of brown bears feeding on sedges that grow above the high tide line. You can go for a hike through the muskeg in British Columbia to breathe in the rich smell of peat, while you hunt for carnivorous plants, or you can spend a weekend in the San Juan Islands beach combing for shells and driftwood, while you discover the secret lives of the seaweeds, shore crabs, seals, otters and oystercatchers. The land and the water are our classroom, your curiosity is our lesson plan, and learning is natural, spontaneous, and informal.
The David B Experience is personal. With a maximum of just eight passengers, the personal attention you get on the David B is exceptional. Long before your small ship adventure begins, your crew, Captain Jeffrey and Christine, will have already been hard at work making plans for your cruise to be unique. We enjoy getting to know you before and during your cruise. We’ll make sure that the places you go and the things you see are what you are looking for. Even the meals we prepare especially for you on the ship’s wood-burning cookstove are tailored to your needs.
The David B Experience is slow paced. On average, we travel about 6.5 knots, so you have plenty of time to soak in all the amazing details of the landscapes that we cruise through. We also anchor in a new location each night, so you won’t miss an inch of scenery. While at anchor in a quiet, calm and protected cove, you’ll have lots of opportunities to go ashore for a hike or beach walk, take a kayak for a paddle along the shoreline; or maybe just enjoy a book or conversation on in our saloon while sipping a glass of wine.
The David B Experience is comfort. Unlike many live-aboard charter boats, our staterooms all have spacious, comfortable bunks. The Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye staterooms have queen-sized beds, and the Keta stateroom has two extra-long twin bunks. They all have and private heads (toilets) and sinks. The cabins are below deck and all are bright, clean and have lots of fresh air from portholes. There are also plenty of outlets to plug in your camera, computer, phone, or hair dryer. Besides the private heads in each stateroom, the David B has a large shared forward head with a cast iron bathtub/shower and propane fireplace. It’s the best spot on the boat for an evening soak at the end of a busy, active day.
The David B Experience is being a part of history. You help keep a living piece of history alive when you travel aboard the David B for your vacation. Built for the Bristol Bay, Alaska fishery in 1929, the David B, is one of the last “Monkey Boats” that’s still around. They were built to tow smaller sail boats to the fishing grounds. The David B is powered by it’s original engine, a Washington Iron Works 3-cylinder. It is the oldest working Washington 3-cylinder still in a boat. By cruising aboard the David B, you become a part of its miraculous history.