A Message from the President

The Tongass National Forest is this Earth's last, substantially intact, temperate rainforest. It contains 17 million acres (approximately 26,500 square miles) and covers almost 95 percent of the area known as Southeast Alaska.

On the mainland to the east, the Tongass is bordered by the Canadian Rocky Mountains and on the west by an archipelago of hundreds of islands (a fact that almost doubles its size - half land, half water).

It is home to an incredible array of wildlife (whales, salmon, eagles, sea lions, bear, sea otters, deer, orcas, and puffins, to name a few).

Because of its topography of high mountain peaks, glaciers, deep fjords, islands and thick forests, roads are few (just in the towns) and the only practical way to see and experience what the Tongass has to offer is to travel by boat.

In 1980 The McIntosh Foundation incorporated The Boat Company and bought and converted a wooden hulled ex-U.S. Navy minesweeper (M/V OBSERVER). It then turned the vessel over to The Boat Company to be used for trips in Southeast Alaska. The business grew and in 1991, The Boat Company purchased the M/V LISERON, another wooden hulled minesweeper, from the U.S. government (it had been on loan to the French Navy). She was transported across the Atlantic Ocean to Tarpon Springs Florida where she received a new deck plan to accommodate up to 20 guests comfortably. With wooden hulled minesweepers few and far between, planning for another vessel for the fleet commenced. By early 2000, The Boat Company fleet welcomed the M/V MIST COVE, an aluminum hulled replica of the M/V LISERON, into its ranks. In 2002 after twenty-two years of service, The Boat Company retired the M/V OBSERVER, leaving the fleet set at two vessels, The M/V LISERON & M/V MIST COVE.

Experience has taught us that to run the sort of trips we want, our vessels should have the ability to carry no fewer than 12 people and no more than 24, i.e. small groups tend to become more homogeneous because of the shared experiences.

The abundance of both trout and salmon make fly-fishing and spin casting in the many streams we encounter incomparable to anywhere in the world.

Our vessels are staffed by professionals, many, if not most, of whom have natural science degrees enabling them to answer all the inevitable questions. The ratio of crew to guests runs approximately 1:1½ to a maximum of 1:2.

Our departure and arrival dates are the only part of the itinerary that is fixed. The interests of those on board largely govern the rest of our trips. There are, however, a few caveats to the foregoing, i.e. we always stop to watch the whales, orcas, sea otters et al. And no matter how early in the morning we start the engines, we always try to arrive at our next anchorage by lunchtime so that everyone can have an opportunity to engage in whatever activity interests them (hike, fish, walk, kayak, etc.). These trips are designed to offer something of interest to everyone.

There is a serious theme underlying the whole operation. During the past 60 years a significant portion of the forest, including many of its biggest and oldest trees (500 years plus), have been cut by timber/pulp companies and Native American groups.

A majority of the timber has been sold in whole log form (unprocessed) to overseas buyers (primarily Japan). Because much of the land was set aside as Wilderness Areas and National Monuments which are not open to logging, there is some left. However, as heavy cutting has continued, there has been pressure to open up for logging those areas that have previously been set aside.

We hope that by exposing our guests to the special place that is Southeast Alaska, we can educate more and more people about the benefits of conserving and preserving for future generations one of the Earth's last great wild and beautiful places.