Every day, tens of thousands drive the Sea to Sky Highway that winds along the mountainsides of Howe Sound from Horseshoe Bay to Squamish.

For most, the saltwater beside them isn’t much more than a scenic backdrop to their daily commute. But if you find a way to slow down, leave the land and get out past the tideline, you’ll enter an unexpectedly wild ecosystem that connects the Coast Mountains to the Salish Sea.

It’s here, working out of Squamish, that our friend Addison Farr of Sea Dog Expeditions forges his living as a captain and guide.

“I’d been involved with boats since my youth,” Addison says, “working in marinas and driving boats on the lakes. When I moved out here I guided hiking and dogsled trips, but always had that desire to get back on the water. So I went to work commercial fishing, and spent time learning all I could from people who’ve been fishing and running boats offshore for decades. After a few years, I found the spark to start my own venture, and scraped together every single dollar I could find to buy a surplus Canadian Coast Guard boat.”

Addison’s craft, the Coastal Cowboy, is a 6-metre rigid inflatable that logged hours for the Coast Guard in the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific.

“A gentleman in Sydney bought it from the Coast Guard and did an adventure circumnavigating Vancouver Island with his son. They put it up for sale after that, and it was just right for me. I knew I needed a boat that was built for purpose and could handle a tougher life and a lot of hard days on the water.”

“Since I wanted to get out there to fish, camp and beachcomb, I figured there would be other folks who wanted to as well. It’s been a pleasure helping make that possible for more people. But the guiding is just one part of what I do. There’s also work for the film industry, and a lot of field studies with nonprofits and First Nations. Working with salmon or tracking spawn events for herring happens rain or shine, and it helps turn this into a living year-round. Basically I just love being out on the ocean, even if it’s November or February and the weather is absolutely miserable.”

“The Sea to Sky is pretty packed, but get even a few minutes out of the harbour and you’re in a part of the Sound where you can find yourself alone and away from the crowds. I’ve always found it amazing to get from a populated area to borderline wilderness that quickly. You might be out there and not even see another person. I hear a lot from my guests about a change in perspective—whether it’s seeing the mountains from a different angle, seeing sea lions or porpoises for the first time, or chance encounters with orcas or humpbacks. People are pretty blown away that the wildlife here can be so close.”

“For me, the best day in Howe Sound would be getting out early, catching the sunrise, doing some fishing, prawning or crabbing, then finding a secluded place to post up at. Just doing all the ocean things, swimming if it’s nice, and then cooking up a good meal over the campfire. Doing a little cowboy camp out there is a blast and definitely my go-to—pull the cast iron out, cook something fresh out of the ocean, go to sleep under the stars, and then wake up for a sunrise coffee. I try to bring people into that world a little bit, since harvesting wild food and cooking on the fire is a pretty unique thing that we get to do here in B.C.”

“It’s beautiful here, but it’s also good to remember that the ocean can humble you pretty quick. You can have a gorgeous calm morning and then the wind just turns on, so you have to lock in a little bit and really understand the local weather patterns and the subtle signs that you learn from being out there. But like I said, I love it all, and not only the good days. Some tough weather and a little bit of misery is good for the soul. We don’t take out tours when it’s like that, but some of our field work days in the offseason can be cold and raining and just generally horrendous. But you get home and think ‘Well, we suffered a bit, but that was a blast.’ It makes the hot shower and the little things we take for granted so much more special.”