Their 90-foot motor sailer, a converted fishing boat that is also their home, carries up to 12 passengers. During this year’s late-May to late-October season, the Wanderbird will cruise from Winterport, Maine, as far north as Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. Rick and Karen keep itineraries flexible. “We let the wind and the weather and the wildlife set the pace,” says Karen.

Each trip (they range from three to 12 days) follows a theme, such as lighthouses or deep-ocean birds. All involve fabulous food (courtesy of Karen) and passion for the environment.

That includes the human environment. Karen and Rick buy from local vendors. They work with conservation groups and donate to several charities. Both have fishing backgrounds, so at various ports they invite neighborhood fishermen to dine with their sometimes ardently environmentalist passengers. “It sounds like it would be pretty heated, but it’s not,” says Karen. “It’s usually pretty casual. Everyone’s laughing and asking questions of both sides.”

Rick and Karen, cheerful and friendly by nature, love their seagoing lifestyle. “You just can’t imagine until you’ve heard a humpback whale breathe up close,” Karen says. “The excitement—I mean, I still squeal.” The couple restricts the passenger capacity of Wanderbird, valuing vacationers’ comfort and intimacy over their own income potential.

Karen says the Wanderbird’s cruises may sell out this year. And why not? “It’s our floating home,” she says. “We invite people to join us on a great adventure. And every day’s a dinner party.”

For more, call 866/732-2473 or visit wanderbirdcruises.com.