General Boating

Untamed Coast | Coming September 1, 2026

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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

Airship | Cape Caution (and a bonus cautionary tale)

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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

Airship | Campbell River to the San Juan Islands

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We left Campbell River late in the morning to so we wouldn’t have to slog through 7-8kts of current against us…we had a little until we were a ways past Cape Mudge, but it wasn’t much of an issue. The weather was glorious, and again with the calm calm conditions on the Strait of Georgia. We decided to stop for the night just behind Sandy Island, which is a little … Read more

Airship | Shearwater to Campbell River (with Cape Caution in between)

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We left Shearwater late morning with perfectly clear skies and calm waters. Today we planned to stop just this side of Cape Caution and then go around in the morning to Skull Cove. Our destination today was originally Big Fry Pan Bay (since the BC Parks’ website says Fury Cove is still closed for anchoring due to Covid, which seems weird, but okay). However, after looking at chart a little … Read more

Airship | South from Prince Rupert: Whales, and More Fun Challenging Anchorages

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We left Cow Bay Marina in Prince Rupert in thick fog, which cleared gradually as we made our way south. We cruised through Ogden Channel around to the west side of Pitt Island, and stopped at Newcombe Harbour for the night. The weather was quite rainy most of the time, so we didn’t do much besides music and dinner and a movie. The next day we were originally aiming for … Read more

Airship | Ketchikan to Prince Rupert

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More sun as we left Ketchikan! We stopped at the fuel dock and filled up all of the things — diesel, dinghy gas, and propane — and then continued on our way. The night before we left Ketchikan, we grilled up the last of our king salmon and served it over rice with soy sauce, Japanese seaweed paste, green onions, and a side of sautéed zucchini. Yum! Normally when we … Read more

Airship | Around Ketchikan: Exploring Revillagigedo Island

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We had originally planned to head south at the end of last week (Thursday/Friday after Labor Day) but we had a few more work things we wanted to get done while we were in town with solid internet, and one more package to pick up that was yet to arrive, so after checking the weather to learn that we would probably have another good window for getting south of Dixon … Read more

Airship | Rocky Pass, Point Baker, Port Protection, and a Giant Lingcod

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After leaving Red Bluff Bay we cruised over toward the north end of Rocky Pass and anchored in a spot called Stedman Bay. It’s shallow and quiet and we saw no other boats. We dinghied around a bit and saw deer, a large group of harbor seals hauled out on a nearby spit, and some otters. We had a nice dinner of fresh spot prawns dipped in garlic butter, a … Read more