Every month, superyacht owners reveal where they are in the world and share their plans with BOAT. This time, yacht owner Colin Griffinson reflects on a quieter charter season aboard the 34.6-metre Billings yacht Pacific Yellowfin in Desolation Sound and the Great Bear Rainforest, extraordinary wolf and whale encounters – and how he keeps his 1943 classic running in Vancouver.
Colin Griffinson
Yacht: Pacific Yellowfin
Length: 34.6m
Year: 1943
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
How was your past charter season in Desolation Sound and the Great Bear Rainforest?
Down this year. We believe it was due to the Dow Jones and the S&P being in the dumps at the start of the year. We were still out on the boat all the time though, using it as a family boat. We also bought a kayaking lodge on Quadra Island, so it gave us an opportunity to get in there and sort that out.
How was the wildlife there?
This year was off the charts – I saw things I had never seen before. In one instance, with guests in the tender and on kayaks, we found a wolf pack on the beach, hovering in the tree line. Then the leader of the pack came down, stood on a rock in front of us and did a crazy howling experience. I’ve heard it before, but I’ve never seen it happen.
Then out of the bush came a young wolf. We were sitting on the tide line in the seaweed, and he came right up to the kayaks and started sniffing them. Another time, I was driving back to the boat on my own and I saw a humpback breaching – up and down, slapping its pectoral fins. I came up alongside to watch it and counted 40 breaches before I left.
Usually you get three or four; I had never seen more than seven. Luckily, I had my cell phone or no one would believe it. That’s why we call our charters “adventures unscripted”. We know where the animals are. We know how to work the tides, but every time we go out, it’s a completely different story.
How is Pacific Yellowfin holding up?
Well, it’s a boat… you just keep throwing money at her! Actually, she’s in great shape and we’re stoked at the moment. We run with the original engines – manufacturing all the parts we require – and we just found another complete engine in good condition that was in a tugboat. It’ll provide us with lots of spare parts.
Where does she spend the winter?
About 20 years ago, I had the good fortune to buy a small marina in Vancouver and then built a yacht enclosure for the Yellowfin. It’s basically a complete workshop; plus I turned another floating shed into a woodworking and welding shop. So we do all of our own maintenance with our own team of shipwrights. I couldn’t do what I do today if I hadn’t done this; it makes it so easy to take care of a wooden ship that’s kept in a rainforest.
First published in the January 2025 issue of BOAT International. Get this magazine sent straight to your door, or subscribe and never miss an issue.