Mothership Adventures

06/26/2025

🔊SOUND ON — Killer whales vocalizing in the Broughton Archipelago, an unforgettable moment captured last summer aboard the Columbia III.

Whenever we have the chance, we’ll plop our onboard hydrophone into the water in hopes of hearing the hauntingly beautiful calls of vocalizing killer whales.

The Broughton Archipelago & Johnstone Strait waters are rich with orca activity, and these vocalizations are just a small glimpse into how pods communicate, navigate, hunt, and stay connected in their underwater world.

📍Broughton Archipelago & Johnstone Strait, Kayaking Tour, Summer 2024

📷 - Hailey Elise

Tourism Vancouver Island Super, Natural British Columbia Marine Education & Research Society

06/24/2025

Dwarfed by the towering fjords and coastal mountains of the Great Bear Rainforest 🏔️🌲🐻

Sure makes the Columbia III look tiny in comparison!

📷 - .al

06/18/2025

It sure feels good to be back in the Great Bear Rainforest! ⚓

Misty mornings, quiet bays, and towering fjords set the pace out here. The scale of the landscape makes you feel small in the best kind of way, humbled, grounded, and deeply connected to nature.

So far our 2025 operating season is off to a great start! More updates to come...

📍 Great Bear Rainforest, Kayaking Tour – Summer

📷 - Christie Fitzpattrick

06/12/2025

Slow down. Take it in.

Sea kayaking brings us closer to nature, offering a unique vantage point of the ocean world around us—where mist clings to the shoreline, the rhythm of your paddle sets the pace, and encounters with wildlife unfold in the quiet.

📍 Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait, Sea Kayaking Tour – Summer 2024

📷 - Hailey Elise

05/27/2025

Billy Proctor ⚓ The man, the myth, the legend... and a lifelong steward of the BC coast. His stories are as enduring as the tide, and his legacy runs deep through these waters.

RIP 💙

📍 Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait, Sea Kayaking Tour – Summer 2024

📷 -

05/23/2025

Summer fog banks in the Broughton Archipelago.

The summer fog brings a quiet kind of magic—soft light, still waters, and the feeling that you’re the only ones on the water.

📍 Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait, Kayaking Tour – Summer 2024

📷 - Hailey Elise

05/20/2025

You can always recognize the COLUMBIA III at the dock or at anchor by the bright yellow kayaks covering her rooftop.

The COLUMBIA III has been custom-designed for mothership kayaking. We built the rooftop storage and crane system many years ago to make loading and unloading kayaks a breeze, and the spacious roof easily accommodates kayaks for ten guests and two guides.

The water-level platform at the stern ensures getting in and out of the kayaks is smooth and stress-free.

04/16/2025

04/08/2025

It’s that time of year again! ⚓️

Our crew are hard at work getting the Columbia III in ship shape for the 2025 operating season. In a few short weeks, the CIII will be all buttoned up, shining with new opoxy and paint, and ready to welcome our guests aboard for another summer season of adventures.

A huge thank you to our hard working crew who year after year do an amazing job in helping us maintain this historic wooden vessel 👏

03/18/2025

Paddling in the Broughton's at low tide unveils all the mysterious creatures that reside along the shores 🌊🦀🐚

📍 Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait, Sea Kayaking Tour – Summer 2024

📷 - on IG

03/12/2025

Sometimes, the best moments on the water are the stillness, the solitude, and the feeling of being exactly where you’re meant to be 💙

📍 Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait, Sea Kayaking Tour – Summer 2024

📷 - Hailey Elise

03/06/2025

After a relatively smooth expedition season, this past fall threw us a curveball of the ages—our 68-year-old anchor winch malfunctioned near the end of the season ⚓️

For those who have followed Mothership Adventures for some time, you’ll know that our owner/skipper extraordinaire, Ross Campbell, is always candid about the never-ending maintenance and upkeep of the historic Columbia III

This was a massive, costly repair, but absolutely essential. Now that the work is done, Ross has shared a deep dive on the blog, covering all the gritty details.

Read more on the maintenance blog -- linked below!

📷 1 - Hailey Elise
📷 2 - Cloud9 Marketing