THE INSIDE PASSAGE (from Wikipedia) “is a coastal route for ships and boats along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific NW coast of North America. The route extends from southeastern Alaska, in the United States, through western British Columbia, in Canada, to northwestern Washington state, in the United States.

“Ships using the route can avoid some of the bad weather in the open ocean and may visit some of the many isolated communities along the route. The Inside Passage is heavily travelled by cruise shipsfreighters, tugs with tows, fishing craft and ships of the Alaska Marine HighwayBC Ferries, and Washington State Ferriessystems.

“The term ‘Inside Passage’ is also often used to refer to the ocean and islands around the passage itself.”