Small Ship Cruises
Small Ship Cruise in the sheltered inside passage of Alaska, British Columbia and Washington’s San Juan Islands aboard the historic wooden M/V Catalyst.
The M/V Catalyst is the University of Washington’s first oceanographic research vessel.
Join the crew, as the Catalyst continues in this same spirit of discovery in Southeast Alaska.
Come explore these amazing places with them by taking a cruise with us in the Inside Passage of their waterways. We have berths available for our seven day Southeast Alaska Wilderness Discoveries expeditions between Juneau and Petersburg, and Prince of Wales cruises between Petersburg and Craig, our Springtime Emergence adventures in Glacier Bay in May, our ten day Northern and Southern Inside Passage trips and our fall or spring trips in the San Juan/Gulf Island Archipelago or up to Princess Louisa Inlet. (These are flexible and may be one, three, six or ten day trips, including private charters, wedding parties, or mothership kayaking).
2010 cruises
SE ALASKA NATURAL HISTORY CRUISES
Wilderness Discoveries: Juneau to Petersburg/Petersburg to Juneau
Prince of Wales: Petersburg to Craig/Craig to Petersburg
Springtime Emergence: Glacier Bay
JUNEAU TO PETERSBURG (7 days)
PETERSBURG TO JUNEAU (7 days)
Essentially wild, Southeast Alaska remains one of the few places still largely unpopulated and unspoiled, where old-growth forest, majestic high peaks, glaciers, endless bays, rivers and islands all wait to be explored. The sea and shore teems with life. Playful Dall porpoises, humpback and orca whales abound, eagles and bear are seen in their natural habitat—the best way to appreciate Alaska.
PETERSBURG TO CRAIG (7 days)
CRAIG TO PETERSBURG (7 days)
This cruise offers a diverse experience of Southeast Alaska, from fishing towns to limestone caves, to wilderness solitude, through island narrows to open ocean.
PETERSBURG TO WRANGELL (7 days)
This trip focuses on the areas that are contiguous to Frederick Sound. Frederick Sound separates the Alaskan mainland, with its mountains and glaciers, from Admiralty Island, which is known as the "Fortress of the Brown Bear". The Sound itself is the summer home for the largest concentration of Humpback whales in Alaska.
By beginning and ending this trip in the smaller towns of Petersburg and Wrangell we are able to avoid the cruise ship generated chaos of Juneau or Ketchikan.
GLACIER BAY: JUNEAU TO BARTLETT COVE (7 days)
BARTLETT COVE TO JUNEAU (7 days)
Imagine Glacier Bay as John Muir saw it in 1899, as a member of the legendary Harriman Expedition - without the cruise ships, the guidebooks, and interpretive signs that define the modern visitor's experience. Aboard the Catalyst, our 76-foot vintage wooden boat, we'll have the chance to see this spectacular glacier and fjord landscape in much the same way that Harriman's scientists did.
INSIDE PASSAGE (10 days)
Southern Inside Passage: Voyage of Discovery
Northbound: Friday Harbor WA to Ketchikan AK
Southbound: Ketchikan, AK to Friday Harbor WA
Up and down the coast of British Columbia from San Juan Island to Ketchikan, Alaska. Opportunity to explore and learn to navigate the inlets, islands, bays, channels and waterways of the Pacific Northwest. View First Nation villages and towns. Discover the stillness and movement of wilderness and the challenge of crossing ocean straits. Enjoy the wonders of the rocketing tides, rapids and narrows of some of the world's fastest water.
Ask us for detailed tour information and schedule 2010 for dates and prices.
