NEXT ADVENTURE
6 LEFT!
June 16 - July 13, 2027
Arrive & Preboard on Wednesday, June 16
Provision & Check-out on Thursday, June 17
Depart on Friday, June 18
Disembark on Tuesday, July 13
The southbound Mother Goose flotilla begins in Ketchikan on June 16. The first two days are spent at the dock: arrival and preboarding, then provisioning and check-out. The fleet casts off June 18 and reaches Bellingham on July 13, 28 days and about 895 nautical miles. The open water comes early, with Dixon Entrance and the crossing of Hecate Strait in the first week, which puts the hardest navigation behind you while the fleet is fresh. A week in Gwaii Haanas follows, near the solstice, when the light lasts well into the evening: Tanu, Hot Spring Island, the old-growth forest at Windy Bay, and SGang Gwaay. The route then recrosses to the Central Coast and comes home through the Broughton Archipelago and Desolation Sound in their warmest weeks. You skipper your own boat, chartered from our fleet or your own vessel.*
*Note: This itinerary is tentative. The final route is set by weather, currents, group input, and the lead boat captain. Participants may cruise on their own or with the group during the day, but must rejoin the group at each day's destination.
Mother Goose2027 FLOTILLA
Ketchikan to Bellingham: Home by Way of Haida Gwaii
This 28-day flotilla begins with two days at the dock in Ketchikan, then crosses Dixon Entrance and Hecate Strait to Haida Gwaii near the summer solstice, when evening light lingers past ten o’clock. After a week in Gwaii Haanas, the fleet works back to the Central Coast and home through the Broughtons, Desolation Sound, and the Gulf Islands in early July, when protected water and warm anchorages make a fitting finish.
EXPERIENCE
THE OPEN WATER FIRST
This route puts the exposed crossings early. Foggy Bay, Dixon Entrance, Prince Rupert, and Hecate Strait come in the first days, while the fleet is fresh and focused on weather windows. Then comes Gwaii Haanas: Tanu, Hot Spring Island, Windy Bay, and SGang Gwaay. The second crossing leads to Aristazabal Island, Shearwater, and the Hakai area, then Echo Bay and Lagoon Cove in the Broughtons, Desolation Sound, Nanaimo, and the Gulf Islands. By the final week, the navigation is gentle and the marinas are close together.
CONNECT
WITH FELLOW BOATERS
There is something about finishing a long passage together. After Dixon Entrance or a Hecate Strait crossing, the fleet gathers at anchor to compare notes, share dinner, and plan the next day. During the day you may cruise with the group or on your own, as long as you rejoin the fleet at each day’s destination. Some guests bring family or friends aboard; others come to meet boaters with the same goals. By the time you reach the Broughtons, the fleet feels like a small, well-traveled community.
LEARN ABOUT THE
COAST'S DEEP HISTORY
Every part of this route is Indigenous territory with a long, living history. Ketchikan sits in Tlingit homelands, and its totem poles at Saxman and the Totem Heritage Center are worth seeing during the dock days. In Gwaii Haanas, managed jointly by the Council of the Haida Nation and the Government of Canada, Haida Gwaii Watchmen welcome visitors at village sites such as SGang Gwaay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Every visitor completes a Parks Canada orientation first, which our lead crew arranges. Near the Hakai area, in Heiltsuk territory, archaeologists working with the Heiltsuk Nation on Triquet Island found evidence of human occupation about 14,000 years old, among the oldest known in North America. Later in the trip, the Broughton Archipelago carries the name of William Broughton, who sailed with George Vancouver’s 1792 expedition, though the islands are the homelands of Kwakwaka’wakw nations.
SKIPPER
YOUR OWN BOAT
You skipper your own boat the whole way home. Charter from our fleet or, for the first time in decades, bring your own vessel. The two dock days in Ketchikan give you time to settle aboard, provision, and complete a boat check-out with our team. Our charter team asks each captain for a cruising resume so we can confirm the experience this route asks for. Our training programs can close any gaps before June.
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF
AN EXPERIENCED LEAD CREW
Our Mother Goose lead crew runs the lead boat beside you from Ketchikan to Bellingham. Each morning they brief the fleet on weather, tides, and currents, with particular attention to the Dixon Entrance and Hecate Strait windows early in the trip. They handle marina reservations and the Gwaii Haanas permits and orientation, and they are available by radio underway. Weather, currents, group input, and the lead boat captain set each day’s final route, so the schedule serves the conditions rather than the calendar.
ADVENTURES
QUOTATIONS
Your efforts to keep the boats running smoothly, surprising us every day with a walk, and taking the time out to buy us a beer in the local pub, give us a car tour in the larger towns, and deliver us with bags to the airport made the adventure really enjoyable.
We have chartered with NWE nine times now and Change of Latitude is the best equipped boat we’ve used. Kirk was impressed by the spotless engine room and premium navigation equipment. I appreciated the quality cookware and little touches like hooks in all the right places.
I can say without exception we have never had an experience that came close to matching our adventure. You and your staff were accommodating and gracious at every step of our arrangements. The NW Explorations staff operates at a Ritz Carlton level of service.
MAGAZINE REVIEWS
The trip of a lifetime. That’s how everyone described my upcoming assignment to Alaska on a 10-day charter with NW Explorations. After returning I have to say, it was that and so much more… I can now say without a doubt that I wouldn’t have wanted to experience Alaska any other way. The flotilla allows clients to visit the immensely beautiful Alaskan coast independently on a chartered boat, while providing the comfort of guidance from a lead vessel (hence the name Mother Goose) and the camaraderie of fellow charterers doing the same thing.
By joining NW Explorations on one of the company’s guided flotillas, you will be embarking on an adventure with fellow cruisers–and have the comfort of knowing an experienced captain is aboard the lead vessel. Along the way, you’ll hear from the lead boat regarding native culture, local history, and wildlife. Once the flotilla arrives at an anchorage, you have the option of participating in guided on-shore and dinghy explorations, or relaxing in your chartered Grand Banks yacht. NW Explorations is a first-class operation, but you don’t have to take my word for it. Consider the fact that 70% of their charters are taken by repeat customers.
QUESTIONS
Guests often fly in and out to join our charter clients for portions of their trip. There are certainly locations along the way where scheduled flights facilitate this happening. In other cases, we must employ the assistance of chartered float planes. There is always a way to make “crew changes” happen along the way!
Each flotilla has a detailed itinerary which will specify areas that have cellular and/or Internet service to help our clients plan ahead if they will need to check in with family or business while away.
The flotilla price includes the rental of the vessel, insurance, and the support of the lead vessel. The lead vessel has a USCG licensed captain, a marine technician, and a naturalist. Our crew will be there to catch your lines, assist with any maneuvering needs, communicate over VHF on wildlife sightings/important sites, and even collect your garbage & recycling at the end of each day! Fuel and provisions are at the expense of the client as well as transportation costs getting to and from the specific port of call where your vessel is moored.
Each flotilla has a detailed itinerary that will specify locations where provisioning opportunities will be available. We do recommend for those charters that originate in Washington and cross into Canada shortly thereafter to wait and purchase their fruits and vegetables until they have crossed into Canada. Certain restrictions apply and can change regarding these items.
CANCELLATION FEES: (1) All cancellations must be received in writing. (2) Final payment is due 120 days prior to your departure date. If you must cancel your charter, the following terms shall apply:
- 120 or more days: Cancellation Fee of $500 per week, no proration
- 119 – 90 days: Entire reservation deposit
- 89 – 0 days: Entire charter fee
Each flotilla participant is asked to fill out a Medical & Emergency Form. The purpose of this form is to provide the crew on the lead boat with valuable information to use in the case of an emergency. To the extent that the crew is able to assist, they will make every effort to do so. For those situations that are outside our level of training, we have VHF radios and a satellite phone that allow us to be in constant communication with the US Coast Guard. Although it is not a situation that we anticipate or hope for our clients to have, we are prepared to make arrangements to have guests flown out to receive medical treatment if needed.
