Salish Sea Expeditions

Quiet nook from a kayak

Morning Office View

  For the past two weeks I have been leading expedition guiding trips around the San Juan Islands, Deception Pass, and Olympic National Park. The trips are seven days, round trip from Seattle. My base is the beautiful Safari Quest. I like to think of it as the flagship for the UnCruise fleet. She can carry 22 passengers and 10 crew. The crew includes a pastry chef, bartender, steward, hotel manager, executive chef, captain, chief mate, deckhand, engineer, and an expedition leader (that's me). It is an amazing crew and to make things even better we most often have pretty amazing guests. 

Rough skinned newt!

  We only run the Pacific Northwest trips during the shoulder season. The bulk of the summer sailing season is in Southeast Alaska. Due to the pandemic it had been a couple of years since we've run these PNW trips, but we jumped right back into it. The itinerary is very active, with big hikes almost every day. One comment I often hear from the guests is how different the environments are each day. We'll do a hike at sea level one day, then 800 ft the next, then 2000ft next, and finish with a hike at over 5,000ft at Hurricane Ridge. 

Onboard hijinx

    There are lots of opportunities for kayaking and skiff tours. The coastlines are amazing and we do have a chance to see some wildlife, although it isn't quite up to Alaska wildlife activity. Last week we did skiff and kayak with orcas, sea lions, seals, and lots of migrating water birds. We've seen families of river otters playing on the shore, mink scurrying around, and bald eagles soaring overhead. 

Stop and look up I say

  The camaraderie back on board is a huge part of the success of these trips as well. There is always a lot of bonding that goes on as people venture out of their comfort zone to a new part of the world. I give people the opportunity to push their limits a bit with some of the bigger adventures, and taking it easy is always an option as well. I always say if they go home after the trip and tell their friends that they were whale watching, from a hot tub, with a cold drink in their hand, that they've already won best vacation. 

The view inside China Caves

  These are a few pictures from this weeks slideshow. I always put together a slideshow of the trip on the final night. It is a great way to bring the trip together and to experience it all again, all together, one more time. 

An old country road in Stuart Island

'Stairs of doom' claim another on Stuart Island

Views of the San Juans from Jones Island

Hugging an old sentinel in Olympic National Park

Lake Crecent, Olympic National Park

Team extreme on Sucia island

iPhone fun with long exposure

Hamming it up for the guests

epic kayaking at Lopez island

Last view before Canadian waters