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
Yesterday we decided to see if there was room for us at Matia Island…it’d been ages since we’d been there, and it was mid-week, so maybe? I didn’t remember if the dock was big enough for us, but the park website references a 128-foot dock there, so perhaps. We also didn’t recall if anchoring was an option (too rocky?) but we figured Sucia Island was an easy backup if there … Read more
We continued our cruise out into the Strait of Georgia yesterday (after waiting for the cable ferry across to Denman Island). The red/green lights on shore (letting vessels know when and when not to cross) are much easier to spot on a foggy gray day than they are in bright sunlight. Oh good, back to flat. Whew! The strait was lovely yesterday. Not much traffic, not much wind. Originally we … Read more
We left Gowlland Harbour yesterday morning around 7:30am and had a nice push out past Cape Mudge (and the gazillion little fishing boats, holy moly were there a lot of boats…wish I’d have taken a photo, but was too distracted by going 11 kts at 100rpm lower than usual). Most of our cruise down the Strait was a little bumpy (which we were not used to after our last several … Read more
We left Sunday Harbour in the dark (again) this morning, planning to get ALL of Johnstone Strait behind us today. We had just a touch of fog this morning, which eventually cleared to this: …which eventually cleared to this: We had a great boost of current this morning, and at about the max current against us for the day we had only about a half a knot against us. Complaints … Read more
Today was our 20th rounding of Cape Caution, and the calmest one yet! A few minutes after we exited Fury Cove, we spotted a group of humpbacks cruising from east to west, so we slowed so not to cross their path. They dove as I tried to get a couple photos, but both slight fog and low light were a little too much of a challenge for my autofocus! Reported … Read more