Travel Photo: David B, Charter Expedition Ship

Click photo for larger view. ©2016, David A. Porter

For some unknown reason, my camera is drawn to interesting boats and ships that pass my view.  You can see another example of this (click here) from a past visit to Sitka where my camera happened upon a historic old sealing ship that belonged to a Tlingkit sealer.

Carol and I had just finished strolling around Ketchikan, and I was standing on our veranda on the 11th deck of the Crystal Cruises, Crystal Serenity watching the never ending parade of seaplanes and ocean vessels go by when I spied the David B approaching my camera’s view.

I found the ship pleasing to my eye, snapped a photograph, and determined that when I got back home I would do an Internet search to see what I might learn about this ship.

As it turns out, the David B is a love story, and the pursuit of a lifelong dream of the owners, Jeff and Christine Smith.  Here’s a snippet from a book that Christine has written about their experience rebuilding the David B:

“On June 16, 2006, the David B left Bellingham, Washington bound for Juneau, Alaska, on her maiden voyage as a passenger vessel. Eight years earlier, Christine and Jeffrey had found the David B tucked behind a breakwater on Lopez Island. The tired old wooden boat, built in 1929, was showing her age. When the young couple stepped aboard the neglected vessel, her sturdy work-boat style captured their hearts with an ageless beauty that only the young dreamers could see.

Their desire was to own and operate a small expedition cruise ship in Alaska. With their love for one another and without much income, they pinned their hopes and sheer will on rebuilding the dying boat. What they thought would be a two-year project, became an eight-year tug-of-war between time and money as they raced to finish rebuilding the David B before it was too late.”

Quite the interesting find, don’t you think?  If you like, you can learn more about the David B by clicking here.

While the David B is certainly not a world-famous luxury liner, this charter ship offers folks Alaska experiences from a completely different perspective with only 6 passengers aboard. I see that the David B also sails the San Juan Islands which is on our bucket list.

I suppose this just goes to show you that you never know the story you’ll find behind a simple photograph.  I was pleased with this one, and am happy to share it with you.

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