The Boat Company has been recognized with a Global Vision Award from Travel + Leisure magazine for its exclusive small-boat eco-cruises in Southeast Alaska. The accolade recognizes organizations, products, destinations and individuals that are sustainable travel innovators.
The only non-profit cruise company in the world, The Boat Company operates two boats that cruise between Sitka and Juneau in Southeast Alaska.
The award noted:
“Millions flock to Southeast Alaska’s Inside Passage every year to witness humpback whales breaching and massive glaciers calving into the sea. And while many cruise lines can take you there, only one operates as a nonprofit that donates all its proceeds to environmental causes in the region. Over the past 47 years, The Boat Company, using earnings from its two small ships, has invested more than $30 million in a variety of projects: improving hiking trails, funding wildlife-oriented nonprofits like a raptor center in Sitka, and going to court to stop logging in the Tongass National Forest. The company’s trips, which are typically weeklong sailings between Juneau and Sitka, open the door to the very trails and streams the family is working to protect.”
The Boat Company operates the M/V Liseron with 10 staterooms and M/V Mist Cove with 12 staterooms from mid-May through mid-September. Because the boats are so small, guests can experience close-up the wildlife, stunning landscapes and ecosystems of the massive Tongass National Forest, one of the last remaining intact temperate rainforests on Earth. Daily activities include kayaking, fishing, wildlife watching and hiking along the forest’s pristine paths and shoreline.
The Boat Company’s profits are used to support initiatives to protect and preserve the Tongass and local communities, such as legal actions with organizations like Earthjustice and Natural Resources Defense Council and local organizations such as Alaska Raptor Center, Sitka Trail Works and Alaska Longline Fishing Association.
The Boat Company was founded in 1979 after Michael McIntosh, Sr. was inspired by a two-week journey in Alaska. His intention was to support conservation of the Southeastern Alaska wilderness, and his legacy is continued by his son, Hunter McIntosh.
McIntosh noted that educating people about the importance of preserving wilderness areas is more important than ever, because the Tongass is under siege by special interests that want to roll back protections and extract its abundant resources by repealing the “Roadless Rule,” a rule that protects public lands from road-building and subsequent logging and mining.