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
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 got an email from the current owners of the Nordic Tug 24 Snowdrop (previously known as Airship), telling us (1) that they saw (current) Airship in Long Harbour on their evening walk, then (2) that they looked at the blog and learned that we’d already found Snowdrop! They invited us to come by in the morning to see our previous boat and meet in person, so we accepted! We’d … Read more
We’re on our way north again! Today we met up with Free Solo (previously Rubicon, previously Jester, a Nordic Tug 39 captained by Ralph), and Seabear, a Nordic Tug 37 owned by Paul and Kim. We’re anchored in Prevost Harbor on Stuart Island, and tomorrow we will start our first leg north, clear Canadian Customs into Ganges on Saltspring Island, where we’ll meet our fourth boat, Two’s Out, a Selene … Read more
Day 0 – The 2022 Slowboat Flotilla to Alaska is underway. Over the next four weeks our group will make its way up the Inside Passage through coastal British Columbia, through SE Alaska, ending in Juneau. We’ll pass along the east side of Vancouver Island for around 300 miles, round Cape Caution, then proceed up the gorgeous northern coast of BC, crossing Dixon Entrance into Alaska. We will then continue … Read more
As the upgrades on Airship get closer and closer to being finished (I know, very funny), we’re getting antsier and antsier to be out on the water. Summer’s over and we’ve only spent about 3 days aboard, which in a normal year would be closer to 7 months aboard, so this is quite a change. But this year is different than most, by far. The new Victron lithium batteries and … Read more
Kevin and I finally got to get aboard Airship again last week! Before we talk about our quick cruise, let’s do a little catch-up: With the Alaska and Vancouver Island flotillas cancelled this season, Airship has been having another major round of maintenance and upgrades. You can see the initial round of upgrades from 2018 (when we bought the boat) HERE. This year’s upgrades started back in October at the … Read more