Dangerous Waters: Wrecks and Rescues off the BC Coast

Gordon Turner is the author of Empress of Britain: Canadian Pacific’s
Greatest Ship and the editor of SeaFare, a quarterly newsletter on sea
travel.

The coastal waters of British Columbia have seen more than their share
of shipwrecks over the years. This book features 20 shipwreck stories,
most involving fishing boats and pleasure craft, from the last
quarter-century. The author interviewed both rescuers and victims; their
stories are told largely in their own words. Some of the victims failed
to take the most elementary precautions, a fact that not all are ready
to acknowledge. Rescuers are more objective in their descriptions.

As this book proves, drama and tragedy are the stuff of sea rescues.
Yet while the firsthand accounts create a sense of immediacy, victims
and rescuers do not necessarily possess the skills to tell their stories
effectively. There is a sameness to some of the stories, which makes
Dangerous Waters a book to read one chapter at a time rather than
straight through.