Captain & Crew
Owner and Captain, Eric Boyum
Ocean Adventures and our ship Great Bear II is owned and operated by Captain Eric Boyum. Eric has been exploring and working on the coasts of B.C., Alaska, the Caribbean, and the Sea of Cortez for over 30 years. As Captain, Eric is certified by Transport Canada.
As a professional firefighter for over 20 years, and now serving as an officer, Eric is also trained in commanding emergency scenes, advanced first aid and CPR, and many kinds of technical rescues. With these qualifications and experience and his Wilderness First Aid training, our guests feel an added confidence when traveling with us.
Eric is a founding member of the B.C. Commercial Bear Viewing Association, formed to set standards for ethical bear viewing by commercial operators.
As a fully certified bear guide, Eric has high standards for bear and wildlife viewing. All of our bear viewing departures or trips where we could encounter bears, are led by Eric and sometimes other certified bear guides. Before guests go ashore for the first time where there may be bears, Eric briefs everyone on his best practices for bear viewing. To further ensure the safety of our guests, our group sizes are limited to 2 to 6 guests. This allows our guide(s) to provide the highest level of safety to our guests, while having the least impact on the lands we visit and the animals we view — something that is extremely important to us. Our small groups also ensure a more intimate experience for our guests and unparalleled opportunities for our photographers.
As owner, Eric believes that is it important for him to be leading our trips. This ensures that his high standards for safety and ethical bear and wildlife viewing, are always met. His strong leadership, his vast knowledge of the natural and cultural histories of our coast, his passion for the coast and its wildlife, and his great sense of humour, keep our guests coming back. On board the ship or on shore in B.C.'s most remote and spectacular locations, Eric brings out the best and inspires all of us, as he leads by example.
A Message from our Owner and Captain, Eric Boyum... January 5th, 2010
The sense of satisfaction that Trish and I share at the end of a safe and successful season is always something that we both cherish. This emotion starts to build as the final trip of the season ends in Bella Bella and the Great Bear II begins the homeward journey back to Vancouver. At this point however, the challenges are not yet over. We must still travel over 300 miles before the ship is safely secured at her berth. The weather was fair for the homeward journey and on the final 2 days, it was outstanding! One very special moment for crewmember Dave and myself was after navigating the infamous Seymour Narrows and entering Georgia Straits. As we were enjoying the beauty of the setting sun against the jagged backdrop of the Vancouver Island Mountains, a full moon rose up out of the east and began to turn the waters into a sea of shining diamonds. A few hours later we dropped anchor in a secure bay on Texada Island under the full moonlight and that is how another incredible day on our beautiful coast came to an end!
The 2009 season was a great one and it enriched our lives with great experiences and new friendships. Old friendships were also renewed as we had many guests return to the Great Bear II for yet another adventure! The wildlife was magnificent and our guests from all over the world were able to experience nature at its finest!
I would like to share one bear-viewing highlight that touched all who were on board deeply as we witnessed the bond between a mother bear and her cubs.
We had raised anchor mid morning and were heading out of an inlet that we had spent the last two days exploring. The walls of the inlet were steep but we were coming up to a cut through the mountains where a creek tumbled its way towards the sea. It was the middle of June and the grasses on either side of the creek were a vibrant green and they grew well on the small meadow. I slowed the Great Bear II down in anticipation of seeing a bear as we had seen black bears feed here before in the late spring. I saw a bit of dark movement beside the foaming waters of the creek, made high by the runoff from the melting snows above. It was a black bear at the creeks edge. The creek was in a dip so we lost sight of the bear as we drifted ahead. I made a loop with the Great Bear II and came back to the spot where we had a vantage point looking up the creek. This time we were stationary in the perfect spot. Our hearts raced as someone whispered, "It's a mom and cubs- two of them". Sure enough there were two spring cubs, each no bigger than a soccer ball, standing beside their mom, beside the fast flowing creek. It looked like the mom wanted to cross. We all hoped she would not try it as it looked like the cubs were two small to make it safely. What we saw next touched us all deeply. The mom put her head down and one cub climbed up onto her neck and shoulders. The cub must have dug her claws in to hang on. Then the mom picked up the other cub by the scruff of the neck and while holding it in her jaws she crossed the foaming waters of the creek! Once she was safely up the bank she lowered her cubs back into the grass and they tagged along as she slowly headed out of view. We chattered back and forth with great smiles on our faces. She was a good mom we thought and we had been fortunate indeed to witness this very special moment!
We are very excited about the upcoming season. For 2010 we are offering eleven trips, two more than in our previous two seasons! Nine of these trips have guests booked already, so we are anticipating a great year! I would recommend people to book early this year for the best choice of trips. Availability on some departures is already limited. For those of you that have not travelled with us we would like to invite you to join us for one of our outstanding adventures on the beautiful coast of British Columbia!
Trish and I would like to thank all of the guests who travelled with us this season and supported us in so many ways. We would like to thank our friends and our families for the times we spent together. We also give special thanks to our crewmembers that worked so hard for us throughout the season and contributed so much to our guests experience on board the Great Bear II!
A Message from our Owner and Captain, Eric Boyum... October 28th,2008
On October 6th, 2008, the Great Bear II returned safely to her home- port of North Vancouver. The trip down the coast from Bella Bella was beautiful. We had a harbour day in Port Hardy as an intense frontal system quickly passed over the central coast waters of B. C.. Traveling down the coast, I had time to reflect on the completion of our 3rd season with our new ship, Great Bear II.
The new ship is turning out to be better than we could have imagined. Her comfort, seaworthiness and reliability, have given us great confidence in her. Our guests have echoed our thoughts!
Four years ago, when Trish and I made the decision to buy the new ship, we also decided to specialize in small group trips, with a higher level of personalized service while ensuring much less impact on the places we go and the wildlife we view. While other eco charter companies on the coast define their small groups as 8 to 16 guests, we have made the choice to offer trips with only 2 to 6 guests. Now, three seasons later, we can say that this decision has yielded the benefits that our guests and ourselves were looking for.
I have reviewed all the ship's logs from the Great Bear II to look at our guest numbers. I find that our trip average for number of guests was just over 4! I also decided to calculate the percentage of trips we have led, with the various group sizes:
We have 6 guests — 14% of the time
We have 5 guests — 22% of the time
We have 4 guests — 41% of the time
We have 3 guests — 18% of the time
We have 2 guests — 4% of the time
Even though our last trip ended in Bella Bella only four weeks ago, Trish and I are already excited as plans develop for 2009, our 12th season!
Although our 2009 schedule has not, as yet, been posted on our website, dates are available now for many of our spring and fall trips. New areas will be explored in 2009 and some with well known people co-leading them. Due to the sensitivity of at least one of these trips, details of this trip will only be available by contacting us directly.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you that have travelled with us on the Great Bear II and thank you for all that you have added to the trips and the experiences of all who shared your journey. I look forward to welcoming everyone aboard in 2009!
In the Office & On-board: Trish Boyum
Helping Eric with the running of the company, marketing and trip reservations, is Eric's long time partner and wife, Trish Boyum.
After having grown up on cattle ranches in B.C.'s interior, Trish now calls the coast her home, and is passionate about the preservation of its wildlife and intact rainforests. Currently working with and inspired by Karen and Ian McAllister of Pacific Wild, Trish is adamant that Trophy and Sport Hunting in B.C., must be ended. Trish will soon be starting work with clients, supplying ID photos and GPS coordinates of whale activity to Cetacealab to help in their fight to stop oil super-tankers from coming to our coast. Brought up in the interior of the province means that supporting projects there too is important to Trish — projects that Wayne McCrory of Valhalla Wilderness Society, leads. Wayne, passionate about the preservation of B.C.'s wilderness and wildlife, has been instrumental in gaining protection for many areas of our province. Trish and Eric feel honoured to call Wayne a friend and mentor.
Trish is also our chef on board our ship, Great Bear II. Having been brought up by a mother who believed in lots of good, fresh food, Trish is inspired by her example. A wide array of cuisine is offered, made with the freshest ingredients, brought on board at the start of each trip. Trish shops for foods that are grown naturally or organically, in season, and locally as much as possible. Her on board organic herb garden, the pairing of British Columbia VQA wines with dinner, and the chocolates... ahh yes, the chocolates, provide some of the unexpected luxuries Trish loves to surprise us with while we travel in B.C.'s most remote wilderness.
If you are planning on traveling with us, and you have any questions or concerns about the menu on board Great Bear II, please contact Trish: trish@oceanadventures.bc.ca or call 604-812-9453. She will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
If you have traveled with us in the past, and would like one of Trish's recipes, please feel free to contact her for that as well.
If you are planning a Custom (Private) Charter with us,
Trish would be happy to discuss your food and beverage preferences.
Our Chef In Haida Gwaii
Barb van der Gracht has been involved in the culinary field for many years. After graduating from BCIT in Restaurant/Hotel administration, she took a family hiatus and then came back with a culinary diploma from Dubrulle French Culinary Institute. Her focus for the past years has been on whole food cooking, with an emphasis on local food, taste, and nutritional value. Being a BC resident has exposed Barb to a number of world cuisines, and she feels comfortable dipping into many varied cultural styles, as long as the taste, and nutritional quality is there. Barb presently works a personal chef, and does private catering in Kamloops, BC.
All of us at Ocean Adventures are honoured to have Barb as our Chef in Haida Gwaii!
Our Crew Person
Besides the Captain and Chef, we have a Crew Person on board to help with the day-to-day operations of the ship and to add to the personalized service we offer. In addition, our Crew Person often assists with transporting guests to shore, and helps with guiding on shore when necessary.
We are fortunate to have a great group of people who can travel with us each year as our Crew Person. Each of these amazing people bring their own expertise to our trips and all are committed to exceeding guests expectations with their work ethic, their enthusiasm and their sensitivity to each of our guests personal journey during the trip.
With perhaps a summer semester at Simon Fraser University ahead of her, Nikki will only be able to join us for three trips this season. With all her experience, her sense of humour, her attention to detail, and her sensitivity to our guests' experience, we feel fortunate to have Nikki with us in May and 2 trips in June.
We welcome a new Crew Person to the team this year, from Haida Gwaii. Jaada will join us for the last week of June for "B.C.'s Inside Passage in June" and then again in her traditional homeland of Haida Gwaii. Again in August and September, Jaada will work with us on board as our Crew Person and begin learning more about bear guiding with Eric. Welcome to the team Jaada!
No words will ever say how much we appreciate all that our Crew members contribute to the company, the environment, and our guests' experiences.
Experience the Wild in Wilderness !
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