Location: Steveston, Vancouver, British Columbia
Have to admit that I ended up a little behind with my Captain’s log entries. Especially once Charlie and Emily, my amazing 5 and 8 year old kids, joined me for a couple of weeks onboard. Seeing British Columbia and Alaska through their eyes is very refreshing and entertaining. They loved the orcas and humpbacks, loved climbing up on the bow of the Nautilus Explorer and touching an iceberg, loved hiking through the woods and sitting in 107 degree natural hotsprings. They came out in the dive skiff with me on every single dive. They were fascinated by the ever inquisitive stellar sealions and were disappointed that they couldn’t go scuba diving with them. In fact both kids were making lots of noise about wanting their own drysuits for next year. My favourite memory though is taking them kayaking through the Le Conte icefield and around the icebergs – I was exceptionally proud of Emily who “went solo” for the first time in a kayak (and what a place to do it!!) and while Charlie was in a double kayak with me, he was very clearly “the Captain” and in charge and darn near ready to go solo himself. They both drove a pretty mean inflatable at Inian Cove as well although their dockings need a bit of work. Amazing memories. And food for thought for me regarding possibly offering an extra “family” trip in Alaska each season. Well, that’s it for Alaska and British Columbia for this year. We are back in our seldom visited homeport of Steveston, British Columbia for a 22 hour turnaround before departing southbound for Mexico and the start of Guadalupe Island great white shark season. Sad to say goodbye to our northern nudibranchs, giant pacific octopus, wolfeels and all the other critters up north but time to say HELLO to big honking white sharks up to 18 feet long. More to follow. Captain Mike
Weather: Sunny, hot, calm and beautiful sunny day.
Water: Water temperatures and visiblity unknown.
Fast forward to the end of Alaska 2008
