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ALASKA PURE CRUISES: See Alaska ‘up close and personal’ with The Boat Company -Classic Lady mv M/V LISERON re-engined

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Taking an Alaskan Cruise in 2019 or planning ahead for 2020?

See Alaska ‘up close and personal’ with The Boat Company. Incorporated in 1979 by the McIntosh Foundation, The Boat Company is the only non-profit educational organization offering luxury eco-cruises through Southeast Alaska. With almost 40 years of cruising and conservation in Alaska’s Inside Passage, The Boat Company has reinvested between $25 and $30 million into conservation efforts throughout the region.

The itinerary is flexible and spontaneous – tailored to accommodate your interests and fitness level. With one crew member for every two guests – you will choose each day from a wide variety of activities: early morning kayaking, beach-combing, trolling for King salmon or halibut, challenging hikes through ancient forest, gentle meadow walks, fish-printing, games and naturalist talks in the salon, whale watching, even (occasionally) relaxing on the fantail with a cool drink and a good book. Our guests don’t just view the magnificent land from the deck as they cruise by… they get off the boat and touch it! 

The late Michael Allan McIntosh, philanthropist and environmentalist, founded The Boat Company in 1979, initially as a program of The McIntosh Foundation. The LISERON joined The Boat Company’s first vessel, the M/V OBSERVER (herself a former inland coastal minesweeper(, their mission, to educate the public as well decision makers, about the challenges faced in the Tongass National Forest, and the importance of the natural habitat of Southeast Alaska through eco-cruises. Following his death in 2015, McIntosh’s sons, Hunter McIntosh (who has been employed by the company for over 15 years), assumed full management of the vessel, together with an identical aluminum-hulled replica vessel, to continue the work set out by the founder.

No matter how well cared for, and the LISERON is definitely Bristol-fashion, boats need periotic upgrades. This past winter, the 145- by 28-foot wooden hulled beauty was repowered. One of her two original 8-cylinder Cleveland 8-268A diesels (450 HP at 1200 RPM) was still in reasonable working order. The port engine had given out just months earlier while operating in Alaskan waters.  Parts were becoming a challenge to locate in a timely manner. Bearings, special ordered from overseas were disintegrating within a year and, worse yet, small pieces of babbitt were clogging lube oil passages.

The decision was made to repower. The two dry-base Cleveland diesels were lubricated from 100-gallon reservoir tanks mounted under the engines. Additional lube oil storage was on the forward bulkheads. All of this would have to be removed and, with it, would go about 40,000 pounds.

The replacement engines were a pair of electronically controlled six-cylinder Cummins QSK19 diesels producing 500 HP at 1800 RPM. The combined weight of the new engines, plus gears and shaft brakes would be about 15,400 pounds.

Throughout the accommodation area, including 10 guest cabins for up to 20 people, other work is being done to maintain the bright finished quality shown on the company web page. In the pilothouse, the big wooden ship’s wheel and the compass table set on an island amidships remained as always with the exception of the two big brass handles that had controlled the Cleveland gears. A pair of electronic controls for the gears and shaft brakes had replaced these. On the helm console a set of Cummins electronic engine monitors give the bridge all the info that they could require from the engine room Another addition, made possible by a newly installed electronic steering system, is a control box on a 60-foot tether cord. This allows full operation of the vessel from the bridge wings or even aft of the house for tight maneuvering.

With her fleet partner, the 157-foot aluminum hulled MIST COVE, the LISERON will continue her work of introducing guests to the wonders of Southeast Alaska. Even for those who only see her passing by on her journeys, she will continue to delight.

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