We’re excited to share a major milestone in the Outer Shores Expeditions journey: the addition of our new vessel, the 70-foot (21-metre) ketch, Ocean Wayfinder.
This is a big moment for us because it allows us to grow in ways we’ve long hoped for. With Ocean Wayfinder, we’ll be able to offer new kinds of expeditions, explore new parts of the coast, and deepen our commitment to regenerative tourism and marine conservation.
Why Now?
Over the past several years, we’ve been hearing from so many of you, our loyal and adventurous guests, that you’d love the chance to explore farther-flung regions of the BC coast and beyond with us. Places like the west coast of Vancouver Island, or even Southeast Alaska. These are journeys we’ve dreamed of offering, but maintaining our core expeditions in Haida Gwaii and the Great Bear Rainforest has made it challenging to create new expedition opportunities.
With Ocean Wayfinder, that’s about to change.
This new vessel opens the door to more varied itineraries, seasonal flexibility, and the ability to offer a broader range of expedition experiences—all while continuing to honour the exceptional quality and intimacy that define Outer Shores Expeditions.
Evolving Our Purpose
Outer Shores Expeditions grew out of a deep-rooted passion for marine science and conservation, with the aim of creating meaningful connections between people, coastal ecosystems, and Indigenous cultures.
Over the years, this vision has taken shape in a number of ways—from the Marine Debris Removal Initiative (MDRI) during the pandemic, to the launch of our OCEaNS Fund, and most recently, our Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Citizen Science Project.
The addition of Ocean Wayfinder will allow us to build on this work in exciting new ways; offering more conservation-focused itineraries, expanding citizen science opportunities, and deepening our role in supporting ocean stewardship across the coast.
Meet Ocean Wayfinder
Purpose-built for expedition travel and certified by Transport Canada to carry passengers, Ocean Wayfinder is a spacious, comfortable, and highly capable sailing vessel.
While similar in length to our flagship schooner, Passing Cloud, Ocean Wayfinder offers a significantly larger onboard experience, thanks to her wide hull shape, generous freeboard, and thoughtful design. Her key features include:
- A large, heated wheelhouse with panoramic views and comfortable seating
- Eight guest and crew cabins, three heads, and two showers
- A bright and airy main salon and dining area with high ceilings and natural light
- Ultra-quiet, low-emission twin engines and an auxiliary generator
- Two inflatable skiffs for off-vessel exploration
- An integrated transom stairway and swim grid for easy boarding and disembarking
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Looking Ahead to 2026
With the launch of Ocean Wayfinder, we’ve updated our 2026 Expedition Schedule to include itineraries aboard both vessels. You’ll notice that Ocean Wayfinder will take the lead on most of our expeditions next year, including our signature trips through the Gulf Islands and the Salish Sea, Gwaii Haanas, and the Great Bear Rainforest next Spring and Fall.
Meanwhile, Passing Cloud will stay a little closer to home, and we’re especially excited to once again offer our Marine Mammals of Northern Vancouver Island expeditions during the peak whale activity months of August and September. We’re also planning to add more Inside Passage Migration expeditions—so stay tuned for those announcements.
Where Do You Want to Go?
More than anything, Ocean Wayfinder is about possibility. It gives us the capacity to say yes to the regions, experiences, and initiatives that so many of you have been asking for.
So, if there’s a place you’ve always hoped to explore with us, or a kind of expedition you’d love to see us offer, we’d love to hear from you.
Thank you, as always, for being part of this journey. We can’t wait to welcome you aboard Ocean Wayfinder and see where this next chapter takes us together.
