Today was the day to make miles down Johnstone Strait while things were good. Johnstone can be a serious menace, and we had favorable current from 6AM until noon. We figured if we popped out right at 6, we could ride the current all the way down to our turnoff from Johnstone. As a bonus, winds were predicted to be mellow (unusual for this stretch). It all turned out to … Read more
Early (5am!!) departure today, and a long day to boot! We cruised just over 60nm from our anchorage at Tribune Bay up past Campbell River, through Seymour Narrows (timed perfectly, of course), and onto Kanish Bay. It was a bit lumpy out, with some current against us as we headed north in the Strait of Georgia. We had three-foot wind waves on the bow for four hours or so. Not … Read more
The Environment Canada forecast didn’t look all that great for the Strait of Georgia this morning, but after discussing the hourly reported condition (Windy.com, buoy reports, looking at the hourly trend, etc.) with Laura via the group chat, it looked like a little chop was likely the worst we’d get, so the group pulled anchor and left Clam Bay around 8am this morning, headed for Dodd Narrows. The plan was … Read more
This morning we left Ganges a little before the 11am checkout time (after wandering up the hill to a nice bakery). We’re of course watching the weather forecasts for the Strait of Georgia, and we were greeted this morning with this, for both south and north of Nanaimo. Waterspouts?? Waterspouts are not on our Flotilla Bingo cards. At all. Next year maybe we should make a limited edition “Catastrophe” version … Read more
Day 1 is always a very busy day. Clearing Canadian Customs, arriving into Ganges, provisioning for a week without groceries, and then meeting for our first group dinner out…it’s a lot. Which means photos from Day 1 are often a little scarce. Airship at Bedwell Harbour for clearing Canadian Customs: Instead of clearing by phone with Nexus as usual, Airship stopped at the dock at Bedwell Harbour (with a non-Nexus … Read more
Today was an exciting day on Airship as we left to meet the group for the beginning of the 2026 Flotilla! We got an early start out of La Conner to get ahead of the weather. The forecast called for some strong winds in the afternoon, and we wanted to get across Rosario Straight before conditions got dicey. We had a send-off committee waving goodbye from the dock as we … Read more
As many of you know, my debut novel Untamed Coast is being published this year by Ballantine/Penguin Random House. Untamed Coast is a cross-genre novel—book club fiction, mystery, thriller, and wilderness adventure—that spans three timelines, and maybe most importantly to Slowboat readers, it takes place largely on boats in SE Alaska! I’m incredibly grateful for the years of support the Slowboat community has given this project. As we gear up for … Read more
Inside Passage: San Juan Islands to SE Alaska Prevost Harbor WA to Juneau AK | ~6 weeks | mid May to late June 2026 Update: We now have accepted deposits for all spots on the 2026 flotilla. But things often change for people, so if you’re interested in the trip and would like to be put on our waitlist, please let us know! Glaciers. Icebergs. Whales. Bears. Cruising to Alaska … Read more