Capturing the Moment

  I finally made to the the 'living museum' of the Galapagos Islands. My excitement peaks as the islands come into view. After flying over open ocean for about 600 miles, I finally spied the islands of the Galapagos archipelago. I was glued to the window. Through breaks in the clouds I could small islands jutting up from the depths. Small white expedition or dive ships were anchored nearby. Pretty soon I was going to be on one of those ships, called La Pinta. La Pinta is a luxury expedition ship, fit to accamodate 48 guests with 32 crew. It plies the waters of the Galapagos all year round, so its crew knows the islands like the back of the hands. All of the crew are Ecuadorians, with many actually being from the 30,000 or so residents of the Galapagos islands themselves. First view of La Pinta, our home for the next 6 days. Loading the panga We were greeted at the airport and escorted to the small dock. It was only a 5 minute drive through a very arid landscape. There were thin...

  I've always been fascinated with the giant shipwreck grounded on the shallow reef on the windward side of the island of Lana'i in Hawaii. The channel here is almost always windy and wavy, which means that you can't easily get to the wreck. You especially can't get close to it. But every once in a while the winds will shift... and today was one of those days. So I grabbed my crew and we headed out to explore the wreck with our small boats. The sun came out, really showing off the rusty red color of the hulking ship. It was a self propelled, Navy fuel barge, made out of ferro-cement. It is very strong, hence why it is still here. The ship was contracted out to a company that was supposed to scuttle it in the mid 1950's, but instead they lost control of it in the channel, and it washed up on the shallow reef of Lana'i, where it sits today. It looks like a ghost ship, and even more so when you get up close. The color of rust is everywhere on the ship. Steel rebar ...

  Waking up excited about work is a reality for me. I lead expeditions around the world onboard adventure cruise ships and privately to destinations like Hawaii, Alaska, Antarctica, and Africa. Sharing these wild places with excited guests is an extremely rewarding experience. I constantly see the locations, wildlife, and adventures through their eye....like I'm seeing it for the first time. I feel very lucky to be in this position and I do not take any of it for granted. I've worked many different jobs that have culminated in being able to excel in this career.... teacher, marine biologist, boat captain, naturalist, whale researcher, photographer, lifeguard, guide. Something I heard once as a young man and took to heart was, "If you do something you love long enough, someone will start to pay you for it."   It makes the 14 hour days, the bad weather, the unruly guests, and the last minute contingency plans all worth it. Here are a few pictures from the last couple of...

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 of...