Each month Nick Burnham picks out an iconic boat that can lay claim to the title of world’s coolest boat. This month, he takes a closer look at the Q Boat
Salmon fishing, bear safaris and cloud hopping in the Alaskan wilderness…
We’re in a de Havilland Beaver bush plane flying high over ancient glacier-carved fjords, the only sound in the six-seater the thrum of a single-engine prop. A hypnotic soundtrack as we skim just over an Alaskan peak, the rocky outcroppings crowned in wisps of stubborn fog. A pond atop the mountain glistens in the morning light of the Misty Fjords National Monument, an area so remote it’s accessible only by boat or floatplane.
It would take a man weeks to hike up to any of the endless summits that make up the stunning 2.2 million acre park, meaning the green and cool lake below is as pristine and unsullied by human hands as it was during the last ice age. Nothing more than a dark puddle for wandering giants. The further we float north splotches of white snow start peppering tree tops and naked granite. Or are those mountain goats?