3444 Marinatown Lane N.W.  *  North Fort Myers FL  33903
1-800-262-7939 * 239-656-1339 * Email: info@swfyachts.com

E-YARDARM - SPECIAL ALASKA EDITION
March 2007

Introducing our Passport to Cruising Alaska!

You are invited to join Southwest Florida Yachts for the cruising experience of a lifetime in beautiful Alaska.

You will cruise aboard the 65 foot  Malahide trawler, “Ursa Major.” The boat will cruise from Sitka to Petersburg (July 9-15) and back  to Sitka (July 17-23) in Southeast Alaska. 

There are two double cabins available on each trip - one couple or two singles per cabin with  a lower double and upper single berth in each.  The two cabins will share a large head with shower.

You may join us for one or both weeks!  (Boarding will be on July 9^th in Sitka or July 17^th in Petersburg.) 

You’ll marvel at the natural beauty of Southeast Alaska at the height of the whale and bear season.  You’ll dine on gourmet food from “Ursa’s” galley, including homemade bread, soups and desserts each day! 

Cost - $3500 per person per week for the yacht and crew, including all meals.   “Ursa Major” has a full-time Captain, Crew and Cook on board.  You can sit back and enjoy the scenery or navigate alongside the Captain in the pilothouse.

Southeast Alaska is serviced by Alaska Airlines from

Seattle.  Give Barb Hansen a call if you are interested in this cruising adventure.  Vic and Barb have cruised aboard the “Ursa” and have seen, first hand, the awesome beauty of Alaska – up close and personal.  As the owner of “Ursa Major” says, “friends don’t let friends see Alaska from a Cruise Ship!”  Consider Vic and Barb your friends!   They promise that if you love cruising and you love trawlers and you love nature and you love good food and making new friends, you’ll love this cruise! 

Give us a call for our Alaska cruise flyer.  We hope you will plan to see Alaska this summer aboard the “Ursa Major!”

ALASKA CRUISE SUMMARY

WHO: Cruise with Vic and Barb Hansen and the Captain & Crew of “Ursa Major.”

WHEN: July 9-15 or July 17-23 (You will board at noon on the first day and return at noon on the last day. You may need to arrive in Sitka the afternoon before boarding due to flight schedules. We can refer you to local hotels for overnight accommodations in town.

WHERE: July 9-15- Sitka to Petersburg; July 17-23-Petersburg to Sitka WHAT: A nature cruise through Southeast Alaska aboard a 65-foot trawler yacht.

COST: $3500 per person (Includes all meals while on board. (Gratuities for Captain and crew not included.) A 50% deposit is due at the time of your reservation. The balance is due by June 1, 2007. Call 1-800-262-7939 to reserve your cabin!

If you are interested in the option of bringing a larger group, other yachts are available for cruising in tandem with the “Ursa Major.”  Please don’t hesitate to call with any questions you may have.  We can even give you tips on sightseeing in other parts of Alaska if you would like   to extend your stay.  Alaska is amazing!      

We hope you will plan to see Alaska this summer with Vic and Barb aboard the “Ursa Major!”  Call 1-800-262-7939 or 239-656-1339 to reserve your dates or email us at info@swfyachts.com .

Alaska Cruising Advice: Think Small
By Barb Hansen

Here’s the television commercial I’d like to make.

The camera is looking down on the Southeast Alaskan shoreline from 50 miles in the sky.  On the screen and we see the words, “Alaska Cruising Advice.”

The camera zooms in and now we recognize snow-capped mountains and glaciers curving down to the sea. More slowly now, the camera moves in closer and reveals a quiet cove with a gleaming yacht and five kayaks paddling from the mother ship toward the shore. You hear majestic music, and the high, clear call of a whale.

Abruptly the music stops. We get a view of a massive cruise ship out in the open sea. It slowly moves out of sight. Then the camera and the music return to the tranquil, happy scene in the cove.

Then, one by one, words roll up on the screen and park themselves into one sentence--“Friends-don’t-let-friends-see-Alaska-on-a-cruise-ship.”

Vic and I are convinced. In 2004, to mark our 20th anniversary, we did a little personal research. From Seattle we flew to Sitka, about 90 minutes southeast of Anchorage. We boarded Ursa Major, a 65-foot, Malahide wooden hull trawler. It’s the perfect boat to see Alaska.

The Ursa Major took us graciously along this spectacular American coastline. She turned into quaint harbors with fishing villages and nosed into fjords with calving glaciers and waterfalls. We watched sea lions, otters, eagles and even a mother bear with three cubs moving along the shoreline.

You need to cruise Alaska at least once in your lifetime. And, when you do, here’s a word of advice. Don’t book passage on a cruise ship. Big cruise ships don’t fit in and don’t dare enter the best coves. Big cruise ships don’t let you slide a kayak into the water to explore a waterfall or walk the shoreline to some hot springs. Big cruise ships don’t let you put a fishing line in the water to catch a fresh fish for dinner.

Big cruise ships move at night past scenery passengers never get to see. Ursa Major overnights quietly in isolated coves. While big ship sheep shuffle down the buffet line, guests on Ursa Major applaud the chef’s cold smoked salmon, salmon caviar, and stuffed grape leaves. They fall asleep to the unique sound of a remote wilderness. In the morning, their alarm clock is fresh-baked bread. At lunch, between spoonfuls of hearty homemade soup, they share experiences with new friends.

Those who know how much I love cruising Southwest Florida must be thinking, “Is this the same Barb Hansen who writes about the glories of cruising the beautiful Sanibel-Captiva-Useppa-Cayo Costa?”

No worries, Mate. I’m still Southwest Florida’s number one cruising fan. But once or twice in our short lives I think we owe it to ourselves to cruise the second most wonderful place on the water planet – Alaska.

Vic and I are hosting another cruise through Southeast Alaska this summer. If you would like to join us aboard the Ursa Major, just give me a call. We have cabins reserved.

Think of it as a gourmet cruise, with friends, on a kind vessel that is just the right size to experience America’s last piece of real shoreline wilderness.

For more information on charters, classes, charter yacht ownership, or brokerage yachts for sale, please call us at 1-800-262-7939 or 239-656-1339.
E-mail: info@swfyachts.com

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