FALL 2010
The
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The Whale in the Forest PAGE 16:
Special(ty) Ships PAGE 20:
2011 Schedules
Notes by Hunter McIntosh
Chief Operating Officer, The Boat Company
As we go to print with our fall newsletter, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the past cruising season, our 30th year in business. We had a very exciting summer with many guests experience the beauty of Southeast Alaska and The Boat Company for the first time. We had visitors from across the globe, representing the United Kingdom, Australia and as far away as Asia. We had one group of guests count an amazing 53 unique individual Eagles in a single day. Guests drank over 140 pounds of house coffee; the crew brewed over 1,400 pots. We saw countless humpback whales, one grey whale and one sperm whale. We used over 700 pounds of herring bait to land over 1,200 total fish, releasing many so that they may live a longer life. And our guests consumed 785 bottles of wine. We thought these were fun facts to share with you. We would also like to share with you some exciting news as we grow and advance the cause of conservation education and luxury cruising. In October, we had the honor of speaking at two major conferences, the first the Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference (ESTC10), held in Portland Oregon by The International Ecotourism Society. The second was at the World Green Energy Symposium, held in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and sponsored by the United States Department of Energy, General Services Administration and others. As we work to increase more awareness, we hope to increase our opportunities to educate others on The Boat Company and the work we do. We are also very excited to announce the launch of our new Flickr account online where you will be able to view and download photos of wildlife and the vessels you cruised on. Keep an eye on our blog as well as our twitter account for updates on hosted trips, speaking engagements and other important boat company news. For those of you with “smart phones” keep an eye out as we are exploring the opportunity for the development of a mobile web application that will allow you to share photos right from your phone with your friends and family, as well as keep you updated on boat company news. And check back frequently on the website, www.theboatcompany.org, as we update and add more features, including the ability to purchase rain gear, boots and other items through our partners at Orvis, to make your trip more enjoyable. We will also be adding an interactive multimedia function for photo and video sharing.
NOTES + COMMENTS
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On the conservation front, while we have seen a reprieve from Senator Murkowski and her quest to cut down the Tongass with Senate bill S881, due to her focus on a write in campaign because she lost her primary, the fight still continues because Congressman Don Young plans to reintroduce the bill next session regardless. There are also issues in the state with groups representing National Groups, willing to give land away in an attempt to come to a larger compromise that we are just not willing to commit to. The Forest Service, encouraged and supported by the Administration, is currently working on a new 5-year timber plan for the Tongass. Much of it is touted as “restoration”. One of the premier features is “stewardship” programs (thinning 2nd growth trees to promote faster growth of those remaining). And it is said to be a self-funding program. However, on closer examination, it turns out that the money for thinning is going to be generated by allowing timber operators to cut old growth trees (500 to 1,000 years old). Lots of them. We are concerned because that works against those of us in the tourism industry (our industry employees at least 10 times as many people). Several conservation groups (The Wilderness Society, The Nature Conservancy, National Audubon Society and Natural Resources Defense Council) have indicated support for such a program. However, discussions are ongoing and in the end they may change their minds. We are disappointed because before the 2008 elections, the incoming Administration had indicated it would be pursuing a different approach. To date, that is obviously not the case.
The Boat Company can be reached at: Corporate Office The Boat Company 1200 Eighteenth Street NW Suite 801 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 338-8055 phone (202) 234-0745 fax www.theboatcompany.org Conservation Programs and Reservations Street Address: 18819 3rd Ave. NE, Ste. 200 Poulsbo, WA 98370 Mailing Address: PO Box 1839 Poulsbo, WA 98370 (360) 697-4242 phone (360) 697-5454 fax email: kathy@theboatcompany.org Staff: Michael McIntosh, President Hunter McIntosh, Chief Operating Officer Bob Vey, Comptroller Kathy Nissley, Reservations Manager Ken Gerken, Operations Manager Mary Ann Confar, Office Manager Joel Hanson, Conservation Director Board of Directors: Michael McIntosh Winsome McIntosh Hunter McIntosh Colin McIntosh Design + Photography by: Erica A de Flamand
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You never told us. You never gave us a clue. You let us go off, happy to leave the neckties behind, thinking we were just going to have an interesting  and pleasant trip for a week, see some nice scenery and get some decent food. But you never told us this would be the trip of a lifetime, a real mind bender, and it sure was all of that!! Just absolutely sensational in every respect. We've never had a better, more interesting, more informative, more challenging, more enjoyable time.
"
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- DICK & ANN STEPHENSON
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The Boat Company
FEATURE ARTICLE
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the whale in the forest BY RACHEL DICKINSON
By 6:30 a.m. we were in the skiff and skimming across the still water of Wyndham Bay to land on an island beach with an abandoned homestead nearby. I thought of the words I often hear hardcore birders say when they get up and get out first thing in the morning in order to hear the dawn chorus, “We’re burning daylight.” After a night of drinking and talking about Samoa for a couple of hours, all I really wanted to do was stay in my bunk and feel the soft rocking of the ship until my head cleared. But I dragged myself out of bed, drank a couple cups of coffee, then joined Jeremy, the ship’s naturalist, and several other passengers for the short ride across the bay. It was late May and I was on the Mist Cove, a small ship carrying about twenty passengers and a dozen crewmembers and we were cruising from Juneau to Sitka, Alaska. Now that’s not far as the crow flies but the Mist Cove was tucking into coves and traveling up fjords to check out glaciers and wildlife so the trip was going to last a week. Built in 2000, Mist Cove and was patterned after a Korean War-era mine-sweeper, a design that is well-suited to the waters of Southeast Alaska. She’s owned by The Boat Company, a non-profit organization that runs weeklong cruises between Juneau and Sitka throughout the summer tional Forest. The Tongass covers 17 million acres and encompasses most of the islands and forests and mountains of Southeast Alaska. All of those big cruise ships going on the Inside Passage are traveling through the Tongass but probably most of the passengers aboard aren’t really aware of that, and most likely wouldn’t care if they were.
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as a way to introduce people to the beautiful Tongass Na-
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The skiff landed on a beach next to a spot where a river was discharging into the bay. The morning was warm – about 50 degrees – and slightly overcast with high gray clouds that looked like dirty cotton batting laid over the blue sky. It was low tide so we waded through the intertidal zone looking at mussels, barnacles, anemones, and pretty little sea stars. Jeremy knows a lot about everything and could identify plants and animals of the sea as well as from the forest. When we were on shore excursions he always carried a rifle slung over one shoulder – we were in bear country and he told us it would be bad PR for The Boat Company if one of us got mauled. We walked along the tide line on a strip of sand punctuated by clumps of beach grass, moving parallel to moose, wolf, and mink tracks trying to figure out who was following who. Dipping into the edge of the forest, which can be quite messy with deadfalls and undergrowth, Jeremy pointed out the Sitka spruce, red alder, and hemlock. I heard the distinctive buzzy whistle of the varied thrush singing from a nearby tree – I’ve always wanted to see that black and orange bird – but I couldn’t find it. In a little clearing near the river sat the rusting hulk of an old tractor with the John Deere insignia still visible on the body, and remnants – mostly chicken wire – of the fox farm that used to be on this spot. The rusty tractor and old chicken wire provided a funny juxtaposition to what looked like pristine wilderness surrounding them. The very remoteness of the area begged the question why anyone would try to engage in a venture that involved bringing in supplies like gasoline and feed to these forlorn-looking islands. If I squinted I could conjure up a storm and saw the wild seas and unforgiving weather, which con-
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firmed, at least in my mind, the craziness of the abandoned venture in front of me.
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The Boat Company
Later that morning the Mist Cove sailed to Brothers Island where we set the anchor. Gray clouds skittered across the blue, blue sky and the sun illuminated the bright white snow on the distant jagged peaks of Admiralty Island turning them almost pink. Four of us wanted to walk across one of the nearby islands with Jeremy who had told us about the big trees and mosses growing there. So we put on rain gear and rubber boots for the ride across the bay in the skiff. The cold water of the bay was as smooth as glass and we headed out into the open water to get a closer look at the whales we saw blowing off in the distance. As we got closer, the wind whipping our rain jackets and rain pants as the skiff skimmed the water, we could see a pair of humpback whales. They’d spout about five or six times then dive, showing their flukes as they went down. They’d stay underwater for about ten minutes before surfacing again. I was trying to take photos with my little digital camera, a woefully inadequate tool with which to capture whales within a magnificent landscape. The whales repeated this blow – blow – blow – blow – blow then dive pattern, and tion. In between sightings we sat in the skiff with the engine off, trying to predict where they would pop up next. Humpbacks are immense creatures reaching lengths of 40 to 45 feet and weighing close to forty tons. They can live 45 to 50 years in the wild. This area of Alaska serves as their summer feeding ground – the whales show up
The Boat Company
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each time the humpbacks came back up, we found we were a little closer to the ac-
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here after breeding and calving in Hawaii. They’re seasonal feeders and don’t eat the entire time they’re in Hawaii. When they hit the cold waters of the north they filter feed tiny crustaceans, plankton, and small school fish like herring, mackerel, and sandeel, from the water. The average-sized humpback will consume 4,400 to 5,500 pounds of food each day. The flukes of each humpback are unique and used to identify individuals, which is one way cetacean researchers can track the movements of these large mammals. As we sat in the skiff the small boat barely moved because the surface of the water was as still as that of an Adirondack pond – a shimmery layer reaching toward the islands of dark green trees and distant mountains. A constant raucous combination of growling, barking, and braying was coming from a spit jutting out from an islet where male Steller’s sea lions had hauled themselves out of the water and were covering the jagged rocks like slugs on the sidewalk after the rain. We scanned the water, waiting for the whales to reappear.
Suddenly we saw spouts right off the starboard bow – maybe thirty feet away – and heard the whoosh as the whales forced everything out of the blowhole. These huge animals swam slowly past the boat, just beneath the surface, spouting several times, sending spray our way. The first one dove and I thought it doesn’t get any better than theboatcompany.org | PAGE 10
this as I watched the tail and flukes sliding into the water. Then the second humpback
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dove and all of a sudden it felt terrifyingly close to the boat and it felt like it was going to go right under the boat. I was in the bow and managed to take a photo of the flukes, which completely fills the frame of the picture. When the flukes slid beneath the water we all looked at where the whale had been and were stunned into silence – the sounds of the sea lions braking, braying, and grunting hanging in the air behind the phantom flukes.
The Boat Company
Flush with excitement over close encounters with humpbacks, we motored over to the sea lion haul-out. As we neared the rocks we were hit by a powerful stench that – combined with the braying, grunting, barking – forecast their presence. The hundred or so sea lions were all shades of brownish-gray and every size from the huge old bulls who sat on the choice rocks to the sleek teenagers who were relegated to the Siberia of the spit. There was a constant jostling with massive chests heaving and thrusting this way and that as the old bulls worked to hold onto their choice pieces of real estate. About a dozen curious sea lions headed toward us like a squadron or welcoming committee. As they neared the boat, several broke out of formation and began porpoising around the boat – their undulating bodies sliding in and out of the water. It’s hard not to anthropomorphize the animals here. I don’t want to go as far as many 19th century writers did and write about Mr. Eagle with his majestic white head or Silly Sammy Sea Lion who slithers along the slippery rocks. But I do look at them and want boat, I feel confident in saying they were acting out of curiosity, as were the sea lions that swam toward us. But what makes an animal seem playful? Why did the sea lions porpoise around us? Was it playfulness or is there some other reason they act like this? Maybe I’m trapped by language. Maybe there’s something else going on beneath the
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to ascribe feelings and human characteristics. When the humpbacks came over to our
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behavior I’m witnessing but I only have the rhetorical skills to talk about it in terms like happy, sad, curious, and playful. Most of us don’t have these close encounters with truly wild animals on a regular basis and maybe when we see their behavior we can only think in terms of how our pets – who we readily assign human characteristics to – behave. But these creatures are not domesticated and the fact that they want any interaction at all with humans astonishes me. We made our way to the drop-off point on the islet we were going to traverse landing on a pretty little rocky beach made up of rounded stones ranging in size from pigeon egg to ostrich egg. They were beautiful eggs of diorite, granite, slate, and basalt in colors ranging from white and black speckles, to green, to orange and worn smooth from the years of constant erosion. We ate our bag lunch among the stones – sitting on logs just above the high tide line. Flies, gnats, and bugs discovered us right away and buzzed around our heads and hands but they weren’t biting. After lunch we headed into the forest entering an amazing world in shades of green. A world of tall Sitka spruce and dainty hemlock and cedar trees rising above a spongy forest floor comprised of an astonishing array of mosses covering every surface and obscuring fallen trees and rocks in a velvety landscape. Green upon green in this world that looked like the natural habitat for hobbits. We walked up a hill – a former beach head – picking our way through the fallen logs and mossy stones. It was strange to walk through a forest with no sounds of rustling. There was no crisp retort of a twig breaking underfoot or the soft crunch of stepping on fallen leaves. We were encased in a spongy silence broken
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only by the call of a lone winter wren.
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Rachel Dickinson Freelance Writer www.racheldickinson.com Author of FALCONER ON THE EDGE: A Man, His Birds, and the Changing Landscape of the American West (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) May 2009.
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The Boat Company
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Don't ever lose the wonder & excitement that you all share for your beautiful land of Alaska. Your love of the wild is visible in a big way and is very contagious to all those who visit.
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- LINDA MAYHALL
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FEATURE ARTICLE
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special(ty) ships - BY LINDA GARRISON About.com Guide To Cruises
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By the end of our first dinner...we knew everyone's name. By the end of our cruise, we had learned and shared much more.
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As a cruise travel writer, I’ve sailed on dozens of ships ranging in size from less than 50 guests to more than 6,000. Although most ships seem to come in boutique, small, medium, large, and extra-large sizes, I think I’d have to establish a new “miniboutique” category for the 20 and 24-passenger Liseron and Mist Cove, since they are much different than even a boutique ship with 200 passengers. What are some of the distinctive differences about this mini-ship? First, the biggest difference is the marvelous connection you can quickly make with the other passengers and crew. By the end of our first dinner on board, we knew everyone’s name. By the end of our cruise, we had learned and shared much more. Next, the casual, homey atmosphere onboard makes you feel like you are sailing on your own private yacht. The den-like lounge is a great place to relax with new friends. Making your own bar drinks also contributes to the private yacht atmosphere. The cabins are larger than on many other small ships, and the bathrooms
Third, I never worried about missing a bear, whale, or other wildlife sighting. The ship was small enough that everyone could quickly see all four sides of the vessel. Crew members could spread the word of wildlife sighting by just walking the ship and calling it out. In addition, the schedule was flexible to allow for extra time to
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are brightly lit with excellent showers, much like we have at home.
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view wildlife. The first evening, we completed a survey as to the type of activities we wanted to participate in on our SE Alaska cruise. A large ship could never adjust its itinerary so quickly and easily. During the week, the Captain adjusted lunch time once to allow the guests and crew more time to view a mama bear and her cubs. Dinnertime was moved twice—once so we could view many humpback whales fluking and blowing, and another time so we could watch orcas at play. Having the skiffs on board made each day more special. Since the ship runs its own shore excursions, we didn’t have to leave the ship and return based on another tour operator’s schedule. The skiffs were launched each day, with one crew member and four guests in each skiff. Since the crew were linked to the ship and each other with radios, information about wildlife sightings or fishing conditions could be easily shared. The skiffs facilitated exploration of the glorious Tongass National Forest and our fishing expeditions. Again, it was like having our own private guide enthusiastically sharing his or her love of Southeast Alaska. Most travelers who would love cruising on one of The Boat Company's ships would not miss the amenities found on a large cruise ship. For example, none of us yearned for a large cabin with private balcony, Las Vegas-style after dinner show, rock climbing wall, ice rink, or specialty restaurant. We were perfectly content to sleep in our comfortable cabins with a screen door that opened to the outside; spend our days fishing, hiking, or kayaking and our evenings re-living the excitement of the day; and enjoy exceptional meals on the scenic fantail with our new friends. All of the above makes the The Boat Company special. One more point. Knowing that the company is part of a non-profit organization whose goal is “to educate
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more and more people about the benefits of conserving and preserving for future generations one of the Earth's last great wild and beautiful places” just adds more support to the case for why this is a special ship.
Linda Garrison is a travel writer for About.com, a New York Times Company.
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2011 Southeast Alaska
MOTOR VESSEL MIST COVE Disembarking
May 21 – May 28
Juneau
Sitka
May 28 – June 4
Sitka
Juneau
June 4 - June 11
Juneau
Sitka
June 11 – June 18
Sitka
Juneau
June 18 – June 25
Juneau
Sitka
June 25 – July 2
Sitka
Juneau
July 2 – July 9
Juneau
Sitka
July 9 – July 16
Sitka
Juneau
July 16 – July 23
Juneau
Sitka
July 23 – July 30
Sitka
Juneau
July 30 – August 6
Juneau
Sitka
August 6 – August 13
Sitka
Juneau
August 13 – August 20
Juneau
Sitka
August 20 – August 27
Sitka
Juneau
August 27 – Sept 3
Juneau
Sitka
September 3 – Sept 10
Sitka
Juneau
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2011 SCHEDULES
Boarding
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Dates
The Boat Company
2011 Southeast Alaska
MOTOR VESSEL LISERON Dates
Boarding
Disembarking
May 21 – May 28
Sitka
Juneau
May 28 – June 4
Juneau
Sitka
June 4 - June 11
Sitka
Juneau
June 11 – June 18
Juneau
Sitka
June 18 – June 25
Sitka
Juneau
June 25 – July 2
Juneau
Sitka
July 2 – July 9
Sitka
Juneau
July 9 – July 16
Juneau
Sitka
July 16 – July 23
Sitka
Juneau
July 23 – July 30
Juneau
Sitka
July 30 – August 6
Sitka
Juneau
August 6 – August 13
Juneau
Sitka
August 13 – August 20
Sitka
Juneau
August 20 – August 27
Juneau
Sitka
August 27 – Sept 3
Sitka
Juneau
September 3 – Sept 10
Juneau
Sitka
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The Boat Company
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2012 Southeast Alaska
MOTOR VESSEL MIST COVE Disembarking
May 19 – May 26
Juneau
Sitka
May 26 – June 2
Sitka
Juneau
June 2 - June 9
Juneau
Sitka
June 9 – June 16
Sitka
Juneau
June 16 – June 23
Juneau
Sitka
June 23 – June 30
Sitka
Juneau
June 30 – July 7
Juneau
Sitka
July 7 – July 14
Sitka
Juneau
July 14 – July 21
Juneau
Sitka
July 21 – July 28
Sitka
Juneau
July 28 – August 4
Juneau
Sitka
August 4 – August 11
Sitka
Juneau
August 11 – August 18
Juneau
Sitka
August 18 – August 25
Sitka
Juneau
August 25 – Sept 1
Juneau
Sitka
September 1 – Sept 8
Sitka
Juneau
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2012 SCHEDULES
Boarding
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Dates
The Boat Company
2012 Southeast Alaska
MOTOR VESSEL LISERON Dates
Boarding
Disembarking
May 19 – May 26
Sitka
Juneau
May 26 – June 2
Juneau
Sitka
June 2 - June 9
Sitka
Juneau
June 9 – June 16
Juneau
Sitka
June 16 – June 23
Sitka
Juneau
June 23 – June 30
Juneau
Sitka
June 30 – July 7
Sitka
Juneau
July 7 – July 14
Juneau
Sitka
July 14 – July 21
Sitka
Juneau
July 21 – July 28
Juneau
Sitka
July 28 – August 4
Sitka
Juneau
August 4 – August 11
Juneau
Sitka
August 11 – August 18
Sitka
Juneau
August 18 – August 25
Juneau
Sitka
August 25 – Sept 1
Sitka
Juneau
September 1 – Sept 8
Juneau
Sitka
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The Boat Company
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a passage of the heart A cable car runs up a mountainside from the harbour of Juneau. With that quick ride and a short walk we were looking down into a valley, where three wolves sniffed their way through the grass then ran into tree cover. Looking down the other way the view stretched across the Inside Passage that wraps around the Alaskan panhandle. Unique among American State capitals, Juneau cannot be reached by road. We had flown in, our plane following the broad sweep of a glacier as though it were the world’s longest runway. We would be leaving by sea. Two cruise liners dominated the shoreline, floating cities set to keep their passengers entertained with distant views and shopping opportunities. Snug between them was our boat. 130 feet long, powered by a WW II engine, Mist Cove is new but modelled on a wartime minesweeper. The low draft makes it ripe for stealth cruising. While the cruise liners use films and lectures to give their clients the Alaskan Experience, we were set to sneak through narrow entrances into sheltered coves; to separate into skiffs for select fishing grounds; to step ashore into virgin forests in such small numbers that the forests would never notice. Mist Cove is one of two boats operated by The Boat Company, a not for profit whose aim is to bring leaders from the lower 48 states so that they learn, first-hand, that Alaska is theirs to cherish and protect. Eco-traveling could never be more caringly managed. We were twenty passengers catered for by thirteen crew. Lead among the latter was a naturalist, guiding us into his own intimate experience of the landscape. We were near the close of season, the last week in August, and so outfitted for rain. Instead sunlight poured on the land, shining it green, turning our waters blue. Those white dots crossing boulders on the hillsides? We trained our binoculars. Mountain goats. White dots in the trees? The heads of bald eagles. And there’s our first bear, breaking through the cover to the shoreline. We’re making speed, covering nautical miles to our evening’s anchorage, and these specks of wildlife are pleasing enough. It’s time to round the day with a cocktail. We gather in the saloon, raiding the bar, chinking glasses, getting to know each other, when the naturalist calls us out to the deck. We’re not alone after all. Other vessels are gliding by us, of a shiny white and translucent blue. We eye their elect passengers, who view us in return. The vessels are chunks of icebergs, and the passengers are seals commandeering a ride into the sunset. We are travelling to where they are coming from. This is a wildlife zone. The trick is not to enter like an alien. Step by step we would learn how to belong here. Kayaks dropped into the water at dawn. The air was cold, the water was still, and seal heads popped up to watch as we paddled circles around floating ice chunks and pulled ourselves close to the plants that cracked through rocks on the shore. The days were patterned into kayaking, fishing, walking or skiff excursions, always with the freedom to stay quiet on board. And the days were themed. This was the day of ice. Skiffs dropped and, four to a boat, we raced toward where this stretch of sea was sealed off. A glacier was working its way out of Canada, filling the space between mountains as it crossed the border, and then suddenly halted into an ice-cliff wall. We cut the engine and bobbed, a
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quarter mile distant, and watched, and listened. The glacier is moving, ice pushing from behind. A roar, a crash, and the
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glacier calved, vast sections thundering clear and into the sea. The ice-cliff is gray but for slashes of blue a hundred feet high, like peering through land and discovering sky. This is where ice is newly fallen. From a quarter mile the viewing is safe. Just. Any nearer and the waves from an ice-fall could submerge us. This first is a shared day, a joint communion with ice, staring and wondering and sipping hot chocolate laced with rum. There’s a restlessness back on board though, with so many anglers facing so much water. We have looked down from the deck and watched pink salmon swim past us, lone and gaunt and hunchbacked after spawning. The seas were also racing though with salmon full-fleshed with life, urgent for their spawning grounds. As the fish felt urgent, so did we.
The Boat Company
The Boat Company pays a voluntary levy on all catch to support local hatcheries. Part of the ethos of eco-travel is to support such local sustainable industry. It also gives you an insider’s take on where the best fishing is. This is guiltfree fishing, we were told, as these hatchery salmon were returning from a life at sea but would find no stream and no spawning ground. They imprint on where fresh water first meets salt, and had been funnelled years before as smolt to this spot. Now they were back. Fly fishers whooped with delight , some tumbling headlong into the waters, still laughing, as an inlet choked with salmon leapt for their bait. The best fishing of their life, they claim that evening as we tuck into salmon steaks in the fantail dining room. I bobbed in a skiff and cast somewhat forlornly on my first day, new to this whole angling business. Then a visit to a hatchery saw us stand where a bay was channelled toward a stream. The stream dropped down from a lake but for now a barrier sealed this lake. When the hatchery was collecting salmon to harvest and fertilize their eggs, the gate was opened. For now fish were leaping with nowhere to go. In the bay behind them, trawlers swept up thick catch. And from the forest, on the side of the stream deemed to be ‘theirs’, two brown bears appeared. The salmon was an easy snatch. And such was the supply the rocks were littered red with discarded flesh. Bears have developed epicurean tendencies, slicing open the fish to eat only their eggs and brains. A kingfisher dropped from the sky to snatch salmon fry from a tank left open to the air. If salmon were so free for the taking, surely I could manage something? I bobbed on a skiff again, and yes, something caught. It was an amateur catch, my hook snagging a cohoe’s side, but I reeled it in with some triumph. Fish are filleted and frozen, neatly packaged for returning home. With a 24 hours grace period, we would manage it from the hotel in Sitka to the London fridge with fifteen minutes to spare. Most spectacular among our party was the catch of a 100lb+ halibut, roped to the back of a skiff and then the subject of a tug of war as a sea-lion grabbed at its tail. So fish are brought home, but more vital than that are experiences that change you: treading a path through oldgrowth forest and calling the bears to keep away; recognizing the regular pattern of the bald eagles’ flight between trees. Our journey from Juneau to Sitka wound us through nearly four hundred miles, multiples of a crow’s flight, as the captain steered us toward choice moments. Coming into Frederick Sound, a humpback whale kept pace on the port side. And then another to starboard. And another. The call was out. Looking ahead, the sea was erupting into a forest of spume. We were among a pod of forty humpbacks, the sea brimming with excitement. Pairs breached, their forty-five feet bodies surging from water to touch in air for a moment. Slap, as they turned to beat their fins against the ocean’s surface. They plunging to reveal the patterns of their flukes. And breathing, and trumpeting, the seascape was mirrored in a thrill of their sound. The whales left me numb for a while, my own language lost for they led me so far beyond the scope of my experience. And then, sometime later, emotions stirred deep inside me and rose like a whale to the surface. Since the experience of seeing an ocean of whales is tucked inside me, then I can’t be so small after all. Well, there’s a thing. A small party of us let ourselves be tempted away from fishing and climbed into a skiff. We sailed beneath a rainbow, spied another humpback and gave gentle chase for a while. And then saw another, and watched its mouth open and rip through the sea’s skin. It was lunge-feeding. A humpback’s throat is the size of a grapefruit, yet the food it was tearing And then we looked down. Gulls and petrels darted around us, their beaks skimming the water, and we saw that the sea was fizzing. Reaching in a hand, the palm and fingers came out filled with krill clinging, their bodies quivering and pink and transparent. This was one end of the food chain. Whales were the other. And we were somewhere in between. Dip into the Alaskan waters and for a while there’s no need to chase down understanding. You’re physically connected to the whole web of life. That’s the Alaskan experience, that changes you.
by Martin Goodman The Boat Company
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through was concentrated enough to give it such power. Our chase was forlorn. We cut our engine.
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SCRAPBOOK
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This was our ultimate dream trip!! We had no idea it would be so, so amazing. All of you are completely organized, never a misstep. And the reason for existence and focus on conservation & respect for all life is exquisite. Thank You!
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- RAY AND JERE SHELDON
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The Boat Company
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Discover Your Earth Echo with Philippe Cousteau Join Philippe Cousteau as he cruises the inside passage of Southeast Alaska aboard the M/V MIST COVE in early July 2011. This will be the experience of a lifetime as you join the grandson of legendary explorer and filmmaker, Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Philippe is continuing the work of his father and grandfather through EarthEcho International, the non-profit organization he founded with his sister and mother and of which he serves as CEO. He is the Chief Ocean Correspondent for both the Animal Planet and Planet Green channels, where he works on various ocean and water-focused documentary programs. Philippe is committed to telling the important environmental and human stories impacting our planet. To that end, he has been a tireless advocate for the people and the wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico during the oil crisis, visiting the area and learning firsthand the impact the disaster has had not only on the ecosystem but on the people who suffer as a result of the catastrophe. Speaking out about environmental issues through documentaries, media appearances, congressional hearings, books, articles and speeches, he provides perspective and compassion. Please Join Philippe on this once in a lifetime voyage along Alaska’s inside passage. Explore the intertidal zones, sea lion rookeries, the ancient forest that is The Tongass, our nation’s largest national park and the only temperate rainforest in the northern hemisphere. A portion of the proceeds from cabin sales for this voyage will benefit EarthEcho International.
The MUSICWOOD Documentary The Tongass is the largest National Forest in the USA. It supplies the guitar industry with 600-800 year-old Sitka Spruce trees to manufacture the most famous acoustic guitars in the world. Every acoustic guitar you have ever heard — at a gig, on a CD, played in your home — has most likely been made with Spruce soundboards from the Tongass forest. Now, this could all change. Acoustic guitars are under serious threat. The Musicwood
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COMPANY NEWS
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documentary follows an unusual band of guitar makers: the CEOs of Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Fender and Yamaha. As they journey deep into the Alaskan wilderness, determined to make the largest privately owned logging company change their devastating logging practices. But these landowners are Native Americans. How can white CEOs from the lower 48 states hope to change the practices of a people that have lived in this remote area for thousands of years? How can they make them change the way they value their resources, stop their destructive levels of logging and save the future of the acoustic guitar? Music may once again build a bridge across a centuries-old divide and save not only the acoustic guitar but the largest temperate rain forest in the world. Musicwood is currently seeking funders to help support the final production stages of the film. Watch the trailer at musicwoodthefilm.com!
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RECIPES FROM ALASKAN WATERS
ON THE MENU:
INGREDIENTS 2 tbs oil 2 c shelled crawfish 2 tbs onion, diced small 2 tbs green peppers, diced small 2 tbs celery, diced small
April's Crawfish Cakes
PREPARATION In a saute pan, heat 1 teaspoon oil, add chopped onion, green pepper and celery, and toss and cook 2 minutes until tender. Remove pan from heat and add garlic, crawfish meat, add spices to taste. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside to cool. Mix in egg and enough bread crumbs for mixture to bind; adjust seasonings to taste with salt, pepper and spice.
1 tsp garlic 1/2 tsp garlic, minced lemon zest of 1/2 a lemon 1 tsp lemon thyme
Form into 4 equal patties and flatten to 3/4-inch thick. Heat remaining oil in a saute pan and cook cakes on both sides until brown and crispy. Serve garnished with parsley and a dollop of Chipotle Tartar Sauce.
1/4 of a cup of lobster stock for deglazing 1 egg bread crumbs
Chipotle Tartar Sauce Mix together 1 cup of mayo, 2 tbls of chipotle puree, 1 tsp fresh garlic and the juice of 2 limes. Serve with crawfish cakes and a wedge of lemon.
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PAGE 31 | theboatcompany.org
a few shakes of tabasco
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Look for The Boat Company's new mobile web app coming in December 2010!