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Canadian Inside Passage – Sale

Embark on an Unforgettable 12-Day Inside Passage Cruise 

Are you ready for a mesmerizing journey through the serene and stunning waters of the Inside Passage? We have a few spaces left on our 12-day cruise from Bellingham, Washington, to Ketchikan, AlaskaWe are offering a sale on this trip at $9,600 per person, regularly $10,900.

This trip through the protected waters of British Columbia, Canada offers a unique and intimate experience that caters to both avid cruisers and those who relish tranquil, scenic travel.

With a maximum of eight guests, this cruise promises an intimate and personal journey. You’ll sail through majestic fjords, marvel at ancient old-growth forests, and explore remote wilderness areas. The relaxed nature of travel aboard the David B ensures you’ll enjoy a peaceful trip, surrounded by breathtaking natural beauty.

This journey of nearly 700 miles at 6.5 knots provides ample time for activities such as reading, journaling, sketching, or simply watching the world go by through the windows. For those interested in learning, there are daily lessons on navigation, weather, anchoring, and safety during our optional Learn to Cruise workshop. These insights are invaluable for anyone dreaming of cruising the Inside Passage safely on their own boat someday.

Each night, we anchor in a new location, allowing you to experience the full splendor of the Inside Passage. While we’re underway most of each day, there are opportunities to step off the boat and explore.

The Inside Passage is ideal for those with a passion for cruising, whether you own a boat, are thinking of purchasing one, or if you just enjoy the boating lifestyle. It’s also perfect for those who prefer slightly less active vacations but love being on the water.

Join us on this unforgettable journey and experience the magic of the Inside Passage. To take advantage of our sale with $1,300 off the regular price visit our specials page. To get more information and to view our 12-day detailed itinerary, please visit our website: Northwest Navigation.

Happy New Year!

Christine
Chief Naturalist, Head Chef and First Mate

P.S.
If you want your own unforgettable journey, be sure to contact Sarah about our upcoming trips to Alaska, the Canadian Inside Passage and the San Juan Islands. Here you can see our current 2024 and 2025 schedules: https://northwestnavigation.com/schedule-and-rates

Onward to 2021

David B in Alaska
At anchor in Alaska

We just finished our 2020 season with a nice weekend cruise in the San Juan Islands. It felt good. In spite of wildfire smoke, we had a wonderful time with a family who has been cruising with us for more seasons than I can remember. Over the years we’ve watched their kids grow into smart enthusiastic young adults. Having them on board was a truly lovely way to end what has otherwise been such a chaotic year.

Now that this season is behind us, it’s time to move onward into the future. Since many of our trips this season were postponed to 2021 we already have a fairly full schedule. This means we have limited availability for whole boat charters and many of our other trips in 2021, so be sure to get on the books sooner rather than later. If you are looking for specific dates that are further out, our 2022 schedule is also up.

Whale in Alaska - Small boat cruise
Captain Jeffrey watching a humpback this summer in Alaska

We are optimistic that as each day passes there will be new and better tools to fight the coronavirus, and travel (which is essential to curious and adventurous people) will return. It may take a while to be as carefree as we were prior to the virus, but we feel that operating the David B successfully this year and knowing more about how the virus works will lead to an even more successful season in 2021. We hope you will join us.

Stay safe, stay well,

Christine
PS – If you have any questions about any of our trips in Alaska, the San Juan Islands, or the Inside Passage, send Sarah, an email or give her a call at 360-474-7218.

We’re Not Leaving Today…Because It’s Friday

Northwest Navigation / David B Small Ship CruisesSailors are a superstitious bunch. It seems that there is a superstition for everything on boats: no bananas, no flowers, no whistling, no women nor redheads (Sorry Sarah) to name a few.
Every year, with the exception of one, we have started our season on a Thursday, because it’s bad luck to start a voyage on a Friday. The one year we accidentally did begin our season on a Friday, we had problem after problem. We joked that the problems were with either gremlins or because we started our voyage on a Friday. After three days, we consulted a friend who was well versed in maritime lore. He suggested we “start the trip over” and do some “fresh provisioning.” So we sent our guests out kayaking, while Jeffrey and I took the skiff to the beach to gather some wild greens. When the guests arrived back at the boat we welcomed them to their new trip. They played along with the rouse and we didn’t have any more trouble.

So yesterday, (Thursday, April 23rd) we were scheduled to start our first trip of the year, but as we all know, Alaska is closed until May 19th. For me it was a bit of a melancholy day thinking about how much I had been looking forward to the trip north and the new season.

In the later part of the afternoon, while I was on deck washing the boat, I looked up to see a familiar face. It was a woman who lives locally and has been on a couple of Alaska cruises with us. She was stopping by to pick up some rocks she had collected on a previous trip, and she was also checking in on us to ask how we were doing. Seeing and talking with her really raised my spirits.

This morning Jeffrey and I had a long talk about what it feels like to be “on hold.” We agreed that one of the silver linings of this whole mess is reconnecting with so many people in the David B community. We’ve enjoyed all the Facebook and Instagram comments, conversations, phone calls, texts and notes back from our emails.

For example, there was a nice comment on Instagram that said, “Hang in there! We’re rooting for you.” It helped me to remember that this whole pandemic is temporary, and we’ll be back doing what we love with our amazing community.

In the meantime, we will continue to enjoy seeing you in all these socially distant ways, and we hope y’all are hanging in there too!

Stay well,
Christine

PS – Our 2021 and 2022 schedules are on our website.
PPS – Plus to avoid any bad luck we will continue to start our seasons on a Thursday.
PPPS – Feel free to email Sarah with any questions about our upcoming seasons.

Since we didn’t get to start our season because of the coronavirus, here’s a little clip from the first day of last year.

Getting Underway From Kynoch Inlet

Every year on our way to Alaska, we do a 12-day cruise up the Inside Passage for people who are interested in learning how to cruise the Inside Passage. There’s so much to see and we really only scratch the surface of British Columbia’s coastal beauty.  Kynoch Inlet is one of our favorite destinations. It’s remote, wild and secluded. It’s a perfect place to find solitude. Here’s a short time-lapse of us getting underway from Kynoch Inlet in BC’s Great Bear Rainforest. To learn more about this trip visit our Learn to Cruise Page.

Boots Off the Ground – Podcast

A small cruise ship at anchor in the Inside Passage
David B at anchor in the Inside Passage – May 2018.

One of the benefits of running the David B is getting to meet people and develop friendships with so many who have traveled with us. Some friendships are long-distance and we keep in touch through email or social media. Some of our David B friends are nearby. We see them in the neighborhood pub or grocery store in the off-season. Some of our David B friends encourage us to come and visit them at their homes in the winter and late fall when we are not operating the boat. That happened last week when we got to visit with Bill G., who came with us our Learn to Cruise trip last May. While we were enjoying Bill and Andi’s amazing hospitality we sat down to talk with Bill about his experience aboard the David B. You can listen to our conversation in the latest episode of our Podcast.

 

 

Northwest Navigation Podcast - Pack Creek BearsListen: Boots Off the Ground