Seattle, Victoria, Cruising on the Spirit Bear.

We had vacationed with Northern Lights in 2003, doing the Inside Passage kayaking/camping trip, and we loved it. We vacationed with them again in early September 2006, this time doing their Spirit Bear trip with Andys mother Helen and her pal Cece.

The Spirit Bear is a 40 foot classic wooden fishing boat, converted into a live aboard cruiser. The trip is a private boat charter, where Northern Lights supplies the boat captain and a kayaking guide. Since the boat is a private charter just for your group, you get to pick the activities and schedule you are interested in. (kayaking, fishing, whale watching, hiking, sitting on deck and watching the world go by, etc) Our typical day involved a morning paddle, lunch on board the boat while we traveled to a new anchorage, followed by an afternoon or evening paddle.

Just like the last trip, it did not disappoint. We had a great time with a perfect combination of exercise and pampered luxury, great scenery, good food, and terrific wildlife sightings. We traveled around the south end of Vancouver Island, where our previous trip had been up towards the north part of the Island. On this trip we saw porpoise, seals, orcas, otters, mink, deer, urchins, anemones, crabs, and lots of sea stars.

Our guide on the trip was Samanta Chu. Our skipper was John Manning. They took good care of us and were very pleasant company. With 6 people on board the boat is "cozy". :-) But it is very well laid out and did not feel cramped. Just prior to our trip, the Spirit Bear took first in class (working boat) at the Victoria wooden boat show.

In 2003 we flew to Vancouver to start our trip. This year we flew in and out of Seattle, and spent a day there on each end of the trip. From Seattle we rode the Victoria Clipper to Victoria, BC, and boarded the Spirit Bear in Sidney.

For Sandy's more detailed trip report, click here.

Here are some photos of our trip:

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The Seattle Skyline, viewed from the Victoria Clipper.	Space Needle	The Experience Music Project building at Seattle City Center
Experience Music Project building in Seattle	Doc Maynard's Public House in Pioneer Square, in Seattle. This is where you meet to go on the Seattle Underground tour.	Pioneer Square
Sandy feels the love in Pioneer Square.	Smith Tower in Seattle	Our tour guide for the Seattle Underground tour.
On the Seattle Underground tour.	A sign from Seattle Underground	A skylight in Seattle Underground
		Flowers in Pike's Market
Produce in Pike's Market in Seattle	Produce in Pike's Market in Seattle	Seattle is home to the Dale Chihuly studios, so there is a lot of art glass work in the area. We came across this studio when walking around one evening.
Glass Blowing Studio	Seattle sunset	Shots from the ride on the Victoria Clipper
	The Empress Hotel in Victoria.	Sandy and Orca art in Victoria
Andy makes friends with a spirit bear in Victoria.	The Empress Hotel in Victoria.
Parliment buildings. Victoria is the capital of British Columbia		statue in Victoria, BC

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Last Modified: 09/2006