To the uninitiated, B.C.’s 200-plus Gulf Islands can keep the non-nautical at a distance with their inaccessible topography and sometimes frustrating waits for ferries. And the keepers to these parts-a utopian mix of hippies, artisans and Vietnam War draft-dodgers-historically didn’t mind their relative isolation. Enter Vancouver-based luxury travel experts Exposure, who are anxious to show people this great area.  Their Gulf Islands Gourmet cruise brings guests the best of the islands, from exquiste artisan cheese to boutique wineries, without any island-hopping hassle.

The Boat
When captain Colin Griffinson first spied the115-foot Pacific Yellowfin in Puget Sound, she was more fierce than luxe, but he saw something special in the former Second World War army-vet vessel. Noted Vancouver designer Robert Ledingham helped transform its interiors into something worthy of, say, Pearl Jam (who chartered her last year for a romp through Desolation Sound). Clad in Pacific Northwest Douglas fir, the boat has four ensuite-equipped staterooms, all with TVs and DVD players. Her secret weapon, though, is the personnel. The Yellowfin crew-to-guest ratio is just right: not so many that you feel crowded, but just enough that your glass is always full.

The Food
When the Pacific Ocean is your fishmonger and a slew of artisanal food and wine producers are a short motor away, it’s easy to see, and taste, why freshness is the order of the day. The on-the-fly menu of executive chef Catherine Cafiti (Quebec-born, 28 years old, trained in Italy, studied wine in France) mimics the improvisational style of the trip. On the fantail deck, warmed by tabletop heat lamps, you’ll nosh on garlic-cured spot prawns, Desolation Sound oysters, Dungeness crab, lobster, salmon and tuna in fresh seasonal preparations. Cap the night with a David Wood cheese plate made on nearby Salt Spring Island. All paired with Okanagan and Gulf Island varietals, like Blue Mountain sparkling, Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve Chardonnay and, for dessert, Tantalus Riesling Ice Wine.

Tender and Toys
On a tour of his immaculate engine room, chief engineer Jack Dixon shows off the 1942 Atlas Imperial diesel engines he helped restore to pocka-ta, pocka-ta form. If that doesn’t toot your horn, the generally calm waters of the Gulf Islands are perfect for kayaking, waterskiing and wakeboarding. The approximate10-kilometre waterfront bike ride on Saturna Island, from Winter Cove to East Point Lighthouse, compensates for gastro-indulgences. Two custom-built "tinnies" (welded aluminum boats particular to the Pacific West Coast) with landing crafts come in handy when unloading bikes ashore, or for meandering through inlets and coves. On a tinnie tour surrounding the reefs of Mayne and Saturna islands, Orca whales, dolphins, otters and eagles are all within plain view. A 450-kilogram Steller sea lion is here for the oleaginous oolichans, while hundreds of resident seals lie scattered in slippery rows atop solar-heated rocks, sunning their jet-black skin. It makes you forget you’re just a 20-minute floatplane ride from the altitudinous ’scrapers of downtown Vancouver.

GETTING THERE
Check out Exposure’s bespoke trips (exposure.travel) and more great Gulf Island travel ideas (vancouverislandtravel.com and hellobc.com). wl