History
Clipper Navigation Inc. was founded in 1986 with the original Victoria Clipper on the Seattle/Victoria route. The Victoria Clipper II was actually two different boats that ran to the San Juan Islands. Both boats were sold and the Victoria Clipper III was purchased. The service between Seattle and Friday Harbor provides orca and gray whale watching out of that port and has been in operation since 1991 daily from mid-May through September. As Clipper Navigation grew, it launched Clipper Vacations.
Clipper Vacations provides hotel and tour packages not just in Victoria, but also in Seattle, Vancouver, Friday Harbor, Portland, Oregon, Whistler, British Columbia, the Canadian Rockies, Kelowna, and many spas and fishing resorts on Vancouver Island.
The Victoria Clipper IV was added to the fleet in the mid-1990s and holds approximately 324 passengers. While the Clipper IV is capable of reaching an overall faster top speed, both vessels cruise at 30 knots between Seattle and Victoria. The Clipper IV is also one of the fastest passenger vessels in the western hemisphere. The Clipper fleet currently consists of three high speed catamarans: the Victoria Clipper I, III and IV that serve Seattle, Victoria, and Friday Harbor.
Clipper Navigation was also responsible for operating the Princess Marguerite III, a car ferry between Seattle and Victoria. Its operation was discontinued a decade ago due to the extremely high costs associated with the six hour trip between ports. Currently, there is no car service between Seattle and Victoria. The primary choice for passengers with cars is either the Coho ferry out of Port Angeles or the Washington State Ferry from Anacortes, Washington to Sidney, British Columbia about 30 minutes from Victoria. Clipper Vacations can book passengers who wish to take the Coho in conjunction with a hotel stay.
Between 2005 and 2006, Clipper Navigation also operated the Mosquito Fleet out of Everett, Washington. This boat was the primary whale watching service in Friday Harbor. Its operation was ceased at the end of 2006, however. Gray and orca whale watching is still available with the Victoria Clipper out of Seattle.
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