THE IDEAL PLATFORM FOR A VARIETY OF EXPEDITIONS
marine research, film industry + contract work charters
Designed to meet the diverse needs of many expeditions, we are experienced at supporting Alaska marine research, government contract work, film industry support, and photography projects. Pictured above are Discovery Channel marine film project and below, Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin
Launching this February 2025, the Samantha J is our brand new U.S. Coast Guard-inspected 12 person overnight charter vessel offering multi-day support vessel services in Prince William Sound, Gulf of Alaska, Cook Inlet, and Kodiak Island waters.
Our cutting-edge vessel, the Samantha J, is built for optimal efficiency—reducing transit time and enhancing comfort to keep you focused on the work that matters most. With smart design features, your time at sea becomes more productive and less impacted by unavoidable 'down time.' With accommodations for up to 12 overnight guests in four staterooms and three gourmet and hearty meals a day, we combine comfort, and top-rated safety features with Alaskan-tough capabilities that your team depends on.
ADVANCED FEATURES FOR YOUR
PROJECT’S SUCCESS
Work Spaces: A 300 sq ft expansive aft work deck for gear and equipment, a 10-person rigid body skiff for shoreline support, a scuba ladder, and an extra-large swim deck, a 1,500 lb deck crane, the Samantha J offers unparalleled functionality for a wide variety of contract work needs.
Fast + Stable: Your team will accomplish more with speeds at 25-38 knots plus a state-of-the-art gyroscopic stabilizer that mitigates up to 95% of the boat’s roll. This translates into being more productive with less “on hold time” due to unsteady work conditions.
Range: An impressive 1500-mile range gives your team more dedicated project time at sea and increases your project’s geographic scope.
OUR 20+ YEARS OF EXPERIENCE
We bring over 20 years of expertise in supporting research missions, government projects, and film productions with Tundra Adventure Charters. As a premier support vessel service, we’ve built a reputation for reliability, safety, and adaptability in Alaska’s challenging environments. Whether assisting scientific expeditions, facilitating government missions, or enabling unique film and photography projects, our team and vessels are equipped to meet the diverse needs of every client.
ELEVATE YOUR MISSION WITH US
Safety + Compliance: The Samantha J is a Bay Welding 2025 custom-built 60’ aluminum yacht, 20’ beam, meticulously engineered and constructed to meet the highest U.S. Coast Guard Safety Rating Vessel standards. This ensures the utmost trust in our operation for guests as they traverse Alaskan waters with us.
Private Staterooms: Overnight guests will appreciate the four spacious staterooms with 6’6” headroom. Each stateroom features a lower queen-size bed and a single upper bunk, and can thus sleep up to three guests if desired. All staterooms have large porthole windows, ample storage, and dedicated electric heaters.
Lounge in the Salon: The primary indoor area is 300 square feet, featuring an open modern design. Highlights include beautiful teak and leather interiors with ample tabletops and spacious seating for 18.
Wheelhouse: A spacious pilothouse features THREE captain’s chairs (two for guests) and additional elevated lounge seating for up to 10 more guests. These comfortable, elevated seats offer 360-degree viewing.
Culinary Focused Dining: Adventurers are treated to gourmet meals prepared by a dedicated chef, with fresh, local ingredients that complement the onboard luxury. We can accommodate dietary restrictions.
Additional Amenities: Include bathrooms utilizing our onboard water maker ensures ample fresh water for luxuriously long hot showers, heaters in each stateroom and designated gear drying rooms.
““Our company has chartered the Tundra and Captain John Earle twice for environmental assessment projects. Compared to using a helicopter, this has ended up saving the company money while giving field workers more comfort, more flexibility with weather, and the ability to transport additional gear/weight into the field. We will continue to call John first whenever we have projects in the area.””
gyroscopic stabilizer
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38 KNOTS TOP SPEED
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2 engines-1600 hp
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300' aft deck
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Captain with 40+ years exp
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Brand New in 2025
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uscg safety inspectioN
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gyroscopic stabilizer • 38 KNOTS TOP SPEED • 2 engines-1600 hp • 300' aft deck • Captain with 40+ years exp • Brand New in 2025 • uscg safety inspectioN •
STATE OF THE ART FEATURES ON SAMANTHA J
customized exterior
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The large aft deck features 275 sqft of fishing and sightseeing deck space, 6 electric downriggers, a large, integrated fish cleaning station with a saltwater, hot and cold fresh water washes. Double 48” - wide access doors port and starboard allow for roomy boarding and disembarking.
A 54”x16’ swim deck with a dive ladder for boarding/disembarking the tender boats and landing the monster Alaskan fish.
Half of the aft deck is covered by the extended sun deck roof for additional protection in the event of rain during fishing sessions.
A built-in state-of-the-art sound system can be piped to the aft deck, bow deck, salon and pilothouse.
The fore deck on the bow has built-in seating for unparalleled sightseeing when cruising, early morning coffee, enjoying evening cocktails and admiring the view when at anchorage.
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On the roof there are 6 two-person ocean touring kayaks and 2 single-guide kayaks.
The tender boat is a 16-foot, 10-man Rigid body boat w/100HP outboard.
Premium fishing gear and paddleboards are also on board.
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Meticulously maintained fishing poles, tackle, and high quality bait products will be supplied for you.
A 54”x16’ swim deck , helpful when landing the monster Alaskan fish.
We have a commercial hydraulic pot puller (for prawns, shrimp and crab) and a deck crane.
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There is an 800-gallon fresh water tank and an 800-gallon-per-day state-of-the-art fresh water maker for enjoying long hot showers.
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Steelhead 12 foot 1500 lb Crane
Interior comforts
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The Samantha J has four luxurious staterooms that will sleep up to 12 guests for your comfort, privacy, and relaxation. Each stateroom features a lower queen-size bed and a single upper bunk, and can thus sleep up to three guests if desired. All staterooms have large, porthole windows, ample storage, 6’6” headroom, and dedicated electric heaters.
There are two full bathrooms on the stateroom level with vanities, sinks, and enough hot water for longer showers.
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Forward of the main salon and above the staterooms sits a spacious pilothouse of 225 sq ft featuring THREE captain’s chairs (two for guests) and additional elevated lounge seating for up to 10 more guests. These comfortable, elevated seats offer 360-degree viewing and active engagement with the captain and crew. To the aft of the pilothouse is the captain’s watch bunk and a couch seat
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The main cabin salon is 300 sqft. open modern design and features a beautiful teak and leather interior with fine leather seating for 18, a 65” OLED television a DVR with connection to bridge Navionics, sonar and fish finder screens. A built-in state-of-the-art sound system can be piped to the aft deck, bow deck, salon and pilothouse. The main cabin features an aft-deck accessible half bath, which doubles as a deck drying room.
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We have designed a professional grade galley, which features a 36” Wolf induction range/oven, microwave oven, dishwasher, three refrigerators, and a deep freezer.
Guests will enjoy our gourmet chef’s preparations of three meals a day on our multi-day adventure charters.
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The Samantha J operates year-round. She is well insulated with double thermal pane glass windows for fog and cold weather control. She boasts dual cabin heating systems (diesel and electric): A diesel hydronic 50,000 BTU for cabin heat and domestic hot water, along with built-in King1000-Watt redundant backup heaters in every berth, main salon, and pilot house.
Two drying rooms allow for rapid drying of wet clothes and gear.
Speed + Safety
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The Samantha J is a fast yacht. Powered by twin Volvo D13-IPS 1050 drives, generating a total of 1600 HP. This combination of a superior planning hull design and state-of-the-art propulsion system propels her up to a top speed of 40 knots and a comfortable cruising speed of 25 to 38 knots.
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The Samantha J is an Inspected Passenger Vessel ensuring that she is built to the highest safety standards of the US Coast Guard. The certificate of inspection is the pinnacle of sturdy, sound, and safe construction, with safety and navigational systems redundancy requirements well above those of any uninspected, or voluntarily starred vessel.
This 60-foot expedition pilot house custom planing hull is designed to seamlessly ride on the water. She has a wide 20-foot beam and built-in hull chimes for an exceptionally stable ride.
Safety Equipment: Three VHF’s and loud hailer, Satellite Phone, Starlink Internet System, Emergency Locator-2 EPIRB’s, 28 man Solas A pack life raft.
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The Samantha J boasts an integrated Seakeeper gyroscopic stabilization system. Our oversized Seakeeper 16 is designed to illuminate up to 95% of boat roll. This allows motion sickness-free enjoyment of traveling, sightseeing, and fishing.
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The vessel has multiple ways of staying in communication with “the rest of the world”. We have three VHF radios, a Satellite Phone, as well as a Starlink Internet System.
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Electrical power is supplied by a state-of-the-art 20KW Northern Lights generator with full sound shielding. This allows our guests to enjoy multiple amenities common to land-based Alaskan Lodges.
LOA- 60 feet
Beam- 20 feet
Displacement- 38 Gross Tons
Draft- 4 ft
Cruising Speed -25 to 38 knots
Engines- Twin Volvo D13 at 800HP each for total 1,600 HP
Generator-Northern Lights 20kw with sound shields
Wet Exhaust- Triple combo SEP Mufflers (quietest made)
Transmission- Twin Volvo D13-IPS-1050
Bow Thruster- 10” 24 volt 20 HP
Fuel- 1500 gallons, 2 tanks
Fuel filters- Dual Racor 1000 series Max on each main and gen
Lube oil transfer system- Reverso
Portlights-5 Commercial grade 3/4 "inch glass, aluminum dead light cover
Watertight Doors- 2 Commercial grade, 6 dogs each
Water Capacity- 800 gallon with 800 GPD watermaker
Power Inverter- 3000 Watt Pure Sine Inverter
Heating System- Hurricane 2 diesel-fired hydronic 50,000 BTU boiler system. Planar 9D forced air furnace. Six- 1000 Watt King electric heaters for back up and gear drying
SAMANTHA J TECHNICAL DATA
Watertight Compartments- Six
Sound & Thermal Insulation- Closed cell rigid Foam, XPE foam underlayment, Mascoat DTM sound and thermal barrier. Sound Down premium insulation throughout engine room/seakeeper room
Electronics- A full suite of electronics including:
Radar- Garmin GMR Fantom 18 HD
Navigation- Garmin Navigation system
Sonar- Garmin Panoptics PS70 with Airmar deepwater 10,000 ft transducer
Radios- Three VHF’s and loud hailer
Communication- Satellite Phone
Internet- Starlink System
Emergency LocatorS- 2 EPIRB’s
Anchor Winch- Kinematics hydraulic
Pot Puller- Commercial hydraulic
Davit Winch- Commercial hydraulic
Crane- Steelhead E-1500 12ft
Bilge/Washdown pump-Commercial hydraulic
RIB Tender Boat-Highfield Patrol 500, 10 passenger with 100 HP Yamaha
Life Raft- 28 man Solas A pack
Meet our Crew
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Scott Swift- Guide
Scott Swift, aka Swifty, was born and raised in Maine. Scott has called Girdwood, Alaska home for the last 25 years where he spends most of his time on paddleboards. Scott holds a certification with the American Canoe Association including SUP-specific Swiftwater Rescue and has over 15 years of exploring oceans, rivers, and glaciers on a SUP.
As owner and operator of Swift Adventures, a river SUP company based in Girdwood, Scott provides daily paddleboard adventures on five different rivers from mellow, class I trips for beginners on up to exhilarating, class III whitewater. Swifty also provides lessons, rentals and custom designed SUP trips catered to his guests’ ability level with the most current high-quality gear available in the SUP world.
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Captain John Earle
Captain John Earle has been a commercial fisherman in and around Prince William Sound for over 45 years. From long lining halibut and sablefish to seining and gill netting salmon and crabbing & shrimping… John has done it all and loves to share his passion with others.
After the oil spill in Prince William sound in 1989, John became involved in oil spill response. He has supervised training and preparedness of responder vessels and captains and crews both with SERVS and for offshore oil exploration in the Arctic in both the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. John is a USCG licensed master with towing endorsements, Cold water survival egress, CPR, AED, First Aid certified, HAZWOPER certified, FEMA incident commander.
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Alex Otto- Chef/Deckhand
Alex grew up in the mountains of colorful Colorado. After a childhood spent skiing and climbing everything summit county had to offer he ended up at culinary school at Johnson and Wales University in Denver. Once culinary school was finished Alex spent time working in the finest restaurants in the city, learning new techniques, cultures, earning awards, and even landed air time on the food network.
Alex now spends his time riding his motorcycles, exploring Alaska, and skiing everything he can hike, fly, or take a chairlift to. Alex spent time as a chef at the world renowned “Jack Sprat” restaurant in Girdwood Alaska, and brings a myriad of culinary talents to our team and is capable of catering a menu and experience unique to your desires.
Let’s work together.
Interested in working together? Whether you're planning a research mission, government contract, or a one-of-a-kind trip our team looks forward to assisting with your unique project. Let us help make your vision a reality!
