The Boat Company began as, and remains, a not-for-profit.
“In the early 1950s my father, Michael McIntosh, Sr., spent several summers in Southeast Alaska working on a salmon boat owned by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), a company started by our forbears. From that experience, the memories of Southeast’s wild and awesome beauty never faded.
As a result, in 1979, my parents put together a group of friends (fellow foundation trustees, heads of conservation groups etc.), chartered an ex-Canadian minesweeper out of Vancouver, and headed up the coast on a two-week journey to revisit the area. Any concern about cohabiting on a boat soon disappeared, as they all became totally subsumed by the grandeur of the area.
Shortly after that trip he bought an old wooden-hulled ex-US Navy minesweeper (the M/V OBSERVER), converted it for use as a tour boat and set out to introduce as many people as he could to Southeast Alaska and its need for conservation—and so was birthed, The Boat Company.”
—Hunter H. McIntosh / President of The Boat Company
Our Mission
Explore and Protect Southeast AlaskaWe cruise the Tongass National Forest with the intent of introducing people, in an intimate way, to one of the world’s greatest places, in hopes that they too will feel this area is worth conserving for generations to come.
Our explorations are thoughtfully designed to immerse our passengers in their own experiences of Southeast Alaska, whether fishing, wildlife viewing, hiking by day, while also enjoying gourmet meals, fine wines and private cabins at night.
As the only nonprofit cruise line in the world, The Boat Company is actively addressing the conservation of Southeast Alaska in the halls of Congress and other governmental agencies.
