Yay! Our 2008 Season Begins In Desolation Sound:

Finally after an entire winter of work, our labours pay off and we get to begin the fun part of the year; our season begins! All the food is loaded, the paint brushes put away, the dusty coveralls left at home and the wine labels readied! From around the world new guests and repeat guests are beginning to make their way towards the Columbia III. This year we had guests from Finland, England, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Mexico and even Alberta! For me, I love to cast off the shorelines, polish the brass and the wine glasses, and prepare for our first guests of the year. Of course, Miray and Luke have been attending to readying the kayak fleet, including our second thermo-form single for taller guests. Fern has reworked the gourmet menu and the thousands of pounds of stores are all tucked away in amazing corners of the ship. We think we are ready . . and we’d better be! It will be 5 months before we return home with the Columbia III!

Our first tour was with our perennial favourite guide, Jeanette Taylor with a local history tour. These tours ALWAYS sell out and have many, many guests on the waiting list.

As often happens, a professional photographer, Boomer Jerritt, came along to document Jeanette at work. We had so much fun with Boomer (AND ALL HIS GEAR!) that we invited him to join us for his own photography workshop in 2009. See Boomer below;

We were really lucky to have painter, Alison Watt, join us for a water colour workshop. She loved the open, well lit salon, and thrived on the being able to have full control over the ship’s schedule to maximize the painting options.

As a variation on the wilderness settings, we stopped at our homestead. Amazingly, one of Alison’s loyal students was an architecture painter and she presented us with two wonderful portraits of our house.

We did a great kayak tour in our home waters of Desolation Sound complete with a repeat guest and her daughter.

A perfect light breeze for rafting the group together and sailing across Desolation Sound.

After WestWorld Magazine sent a writer and photographer along on our First Nation’s Cultural tour in 2007. We invited one of BC’s best know photographers to join us. Ron Watts quiet, knowledgeable manner was perfect for the Columbia III.

Ron Watts:

One of the best thing about these small group workshops is the chance for great one-on-one instruction with leaders that really “know their stuff”.

Ron’s long time friend and college, Janis Kraulis, joined the tour to really bring out the “Big Guns!”

And anytime Ron is along, the amazing photographs seem to just pop up everywhere.

Spring Wedding!! 2008

After rushing all spring to get the homestead in order and the Columbia III looking her best, Mothership Adventure’s Lead guide, office administrator and of course, OUR DAUGHTER, Miray had her wedding. It was the highlight of the spring . . . no, it was the highlight of the year . . . no, no, no . . . it might be the highlight of my life. The weather was perfect, the flowers bloomed exquisitely, and over a hundred guests came to join the celebration. All arrived by boat and many came on the Columbia III. Once again the Columbia III had a bride and groom aboard. And the lucky groom? For all our past guests, it is of course our favorite guide and skipper, Luke.

We have, of course, many, many photos and I will include here far too many, but for all our guests that know Miray and Luke I knew you would want a wee window into their special day.

The Columbia III was even graced with a rare performance by a famous Bulargian Gaida player ( it is a goat skin bag pipe!)

May your marriage be long, healthy, loving and happy!

Spring Painting 2008

We spend ALOT of time trying to keep the Coumbia III looking her best. This often includes maintenance in places the average guest will never need to know about but which will help to keep her hale and hearty for the next fifty years. Nevertheless, our spring is always busy working on the “cosmetic” aspects of the boat and this year we have been dodging rain and storms. Here are a few pictures of the annual refit:

Sanding:

We work pretty hard most days, but when someone noticed a pod of transient orcas passing by our dock the sanding blocks, electric sanders and dust masks were dropped like hot potatoes and off the crew went for a few ID shots for Graham and Jared.

After a nerve-wracking delay due to wet weather and the rescheduling of our Transport Canada safety inspection, the sun finally shone and the painting began in earnest!