The Captains, Naturalists, & Crew

A Million Miles Traveled -- A Million Questions and Answers

Our captains (Terry and Don) have been cruising Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands for so long that we think they have cobwebs on them.

Rusty
Chief Navigator

This is Rusty's second season and he has to start paying attention to business. Last year he spent most of the season navigating toward the hot dog machine. Rusty is Airedale Terrier #7. In some circles he is known as just #7. You need to be very careful around him because if you get too close, he is liable to lick you to death. We think that last year more people took photos of Rusty than the whales. He may be beginning to have an "attitude".

Terry Buzzard
U.S. Coast Guard Licensed Captain and Owner

Terry Buzzard started Island Mariner Cruises in 1962. He was born and raised on Lake Whatcom, Bellingham, WA. His father and grandfather were both speed boat enthusiasts. Terry started boating at age 4 months, riding on his mother's lap. When he was 7 months old, the propeller shaft broke while the boat was travelling over 40 mph on the lake. The propeller slid into the rudder causing the boat to nose-dive and sink. This same exercise was repeated when he was 3 years old.

Terry acquired his first boat at age 3 (see Reflectons of the Captain). It had 1 horsepower and a top speed of 3 mph. He was allowed to go 250 feet to the neighbor's dock as long as he wore a life jacket and took Rusty #2, who was trained to pull him ashore. Around age 12, Terry started canoeing and eventually ran most of the rivers in this area.

Terry was a commercial fisherman for 4 years. He then got his Captain's license and ran the mail boat in the San Juan Islands, departing from Anacortes. The mail now goes by air--Terry hopes this is not a reflection of his boat-driving abilities. When mail service (by boat) ended, Terry bought the mail boat and started a passenger service in 1962. Since then he has been involved in many other companies, including a shipyard, boat manufacturing company, marina, ship launch and chandlery, yacht brokerage, U-drive rental, log salvage and many passenger and charter boats, as well as other non-water related interests. Terry started Whale Watching Charters in 1977. At that time we were the only boat doing whale watch tours. Times have changed. Terry also wants to mention that the last sinking he was party to was while sitting on his mother's lap.

Gayle Landreth
Office Manager

Gayle has been around forever. She answers phones, gives directions, makes reservations, books charters, takes care of purchasing, tries to keep us all in line and TAKES THE MONEY. She is a real bird enthusiast and extremely knowledgeable about the San Juan Islands. She has also co-written a book about local history. We love Gayle but we question her work ethic. She had a heart attack during the middle of one season. Then, the next year she broke her leg during the peak of the season. She claims we work her too hard but her ploys don't work because we keep bringing her back!

P.S. A few years ago we had a Gray Whale INSIDE the harbor breakwater for a few days, much to the surprise of some of the local boaters. We hear that a few of the locals, when seeing a 50 foot whale alongside their boat tied to the dock, either swore off or on. We're not sure which. Most likely the one's not drinking swore on, and the others swore off.

Victoria Souze
Naturalist

Victoria's knowledge of the San Juan Islands, birds, marine mammals, and Native American history is unsurpassed. She has credits at the University of Alaska, WWU, Grays Harbor College, and NW Indian Collete. Victoria has an AAS in Fisheries and a BS in Marine Biology. She is a member of the Salish Sea Association of Marine Naturalists and is on the Board of Directors of the Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network. She also attends every seminar and class she can fit in about nature, local natives and history. Victoria lives on Lummi Island and sometimes rides her bike to work (about 14 miles). We don't know if she does this to keep in shape or is just too cheap to pay the ferry fares for her car. PLEASE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT HER HATS. WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET RID OF THEM FOR YEARS, TO NO AVAIL.

John Wifler
First Mate & Engineer

John [aka "Wif"] has been around boats most of his life as a commercial fisherman, hard hat and SCUBA diver. He did a stint as a race car mechanic working in the "pits" as well as a ski instructor. He enjoys taking you on a tour of our engine room and is justly proud of it. Wif usually rides his bike to work (2 miles downhill). The bike usually goes home in the trunk of someone's car. This really does not explain why he always looks like he is on a diet. Wif has a home in Bellingham and a cabin on Lummi Island that he escapes to whenever he gets the opportunity. In the summer, we keep a close eye on him or he is MIA.

Riggs Nelson
Spotting Pilot

Riggs owns an eight passenger Cessna Twin, so flying our little 4 seat plane is child's play for him. Riggs and his wife Gay are also avid boaters at their home on Lake Whatcom, water skiing with kids and grandkids. They also spend a lot of time on their yacht in the San Juan Islands. Just to demonstrate how physically fit Riggs is, he usually walks to work (take that Victoria and Wif), AND he has even been known to swim to work (shall we mention that his house is about 120 feet from the plane's dock?).

Don Wight
Captain--AKA "Captain Don San Juan"

Don was born and raised in Bellingham. He began his boating career at 11 years of age with the Sea Scout program operated by his father. The experiences learned in the Sea Scouts gave him opportunities on commercial fishing boats in the Sound fishing for salmon and in the Pacific Ocean fishing for tuna. After 30 years teaching high school, commercial fishing and charter boat operating, Don settled for the charter boats. He's a little slow to make up his mind. He got the nick-name "Don San Juan" from the other Captains because of his knowledge of the Islands. After 54 years of traveling around these San Juan Islands, the Canadian Gulf Islands, S.E. Alaska and Bristol Bay, he knows, and will probably tell you much more than you really want to know, about boating.

Tom Walton
Tom-of-all-Trades (Carpenter, electrician, machinist, plumber, plastician, mechanic, and welder.)

Tom retired (temporarily) after spending 30 plus years building and running an adult and kids Christian summer camp/winter ski lodge. In 1989 we found him and took him to Alaska, and he's been with us ever since. Tom was part of the crew who brought the Island Caper from Gloucester Massachusetts, and he was also with us the 8 months we spent in San Diego as a VIP boat for one of the America Cup teams in 1995. He's made many trips up the Inside Passage and he can repair anything. Tom oversees all maintenance of the Island Caper. Tom's hobbies are fishing in the northern lakes of British Columbia, snow skiing, boating and traveling in his RV. We don't think he has a bicycle.

Leah Thompson

Leah has been going on our whale trip with us since 1988. In fact, she has been going with us more years than most of the other companies have been in existence. At the time Leah started going out on our boat, there were only 3 whale watching companies available. I sometimes wonder if she doesn’t know the whales and the islands better than the captains do. It does not make economic sense to take one of your best customers and hire her, but how else do you get someone in the office that can answer any question that might be asked? We demand that our office staff be knowledgeable about our trips and not just answer the phone and take credit card numbers, which is one of the reasons why Leah also stands in for Victoria as naturalist. Leah in her real life teaches full-time and is a program coordinator at Whatcom Community College from fall through spring. She has a Masters in English (Language Learning/Composition) from Central Washington University and is an active writer in her spare time. Perhaps it’s the Portuguese, Irish, and Norwegian in her, but Leah loves being by the water, cruising in the San Juans, and spending as much time as possible with the whales and just soaking up as much of the natural beauty of our area as possible. It’s a real pleasure to have her as part of the family.

Bev Wright

Bev doesn’t buy those new Mercedes every year by working for us. She loves whales, the San Juan Islands, boats, and water. One year she only missed one of our trips the entire season. Again, she is a wealth of knowledge, and that we demand the in the office. She has twice chartered a yacht to travel up the Inside Passage. This girl loves boating. You can ask for no one better in the office, but we sure miss her money buying tickets.