Great Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast

The years 1854 to 1929 mark the golden age of passenger transportation in Pacific coastal waters. In that time, the sea played a crucial role in uniting the communities along the Pacific Coast from San Diego, California to Skagway, Alaska. And, while most Americans may believe that the forty-niners and settlers traveled by covered wagon, many forsook the hardships of overland travel for the relative comfort of an ocean voyage. This time period witnessed half a continent come of age and shaped one nation’s destiny. During this era of rapid growth and great speculation, many devastating shipwrecks took place.

Great Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast focuses on twelve of the most dramatic and disasters at sea. While to some degree accidents were an inevitable outcome of West Coast maritime commerce, many could have been easily prevented and were the result of recklessness, inattention to duty, unseaworthy vessels, or ships ill-equipped for the dangers of the sea. In other cases greed for gold, fame, or pride played a part and brought many lives to a premature end.

These are stories of the fortunate and the luckless; of heroes and cowards. As the chapters unfold, the reader is caught in the life or death experiences of those aboard these vessels. Few ships are lost with “all hands,” and the stories of the survivors are recorded in the press and in testimony before maritime inquests. Through these accounts, the threads of individual struggles are woven into the stories of ordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances.

Great Shipwrecks of the Pacific Coast captures the enduring romance of the sea and the riveting nature of tragedies.

Reviews

“...a well written book with some gripping accounts.” (Lloyds List, 28 September, 2001)

“This well-written and interesting book considers ten significant shipwrecks on the Pacific Coast over eighty years..” (Times Literary Supplement, 30 November 2001)

“...a thoughtful look at the causes of [Pacific Coast] wrecks, and the consequences, often overlooked or swept under the rug at the time.” (International Journal of Marine History vol. 14, no. 1, 2002)

Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters

The famous Victoria ghost who appeared to a tour group listening to her story, the little boy with a red ball in Nanaimo, the phantom “helper” in a restaurant kitchen — these are among the true stories in Robert Belyk’s new Ghosts. Encounters with entities from a different reality do occur in the rational, modern world; the experiences collected here range from the colonial days to the year 2000. Most B.C. ghosts are not frightening, but seem to want to say, “Notice me — I’m still around.” However much a person might wish to ignore eggs thrown against a wall, an invisible but noisy cat, the long-gone woman who doesn’t want anyone sitting at her table in a hotel dining room or a bed that shakes, such things do happen, and they defy explanation.

Although many ghosts haunt private houses, some are associated with public places and buildings, such as Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, the Vancouver General Hospital, the James Cowan Theatre in Burnaby and the Qualicum Heritage Inn on Vancouver Island.

Review

“The introduction [to Ghosts: True Tales of Eerie Encounters] will teach you more about eerie phenomenon and apparitions than anything you have ever read or heard. Through the chapters, you’ll lose your balance, puzzled and trying to understand the motivations some spirits manifest their presence to the living. Whether you believe in ghosts or not is not exactly an issue when reading Ghosts. However, once you flip to the last page of this book, there isn’t much of a chance that you will be left skeptical about the existence of ghosts.” (Concordian, December 5, 2005)

Ghosts: More Eerie Encounters
>> New for 2006

The spirit of a young woman haunts the house across the road from where she died. Construction workers restoring an old theatre evoke the anger of a resident ghost. Footsteps on the stairs and phone calls from beyond the grave are items on the menu of ghostly happenings at a premier restaurant. The smell of cigar smoke and the sound of footsteps announce the presence of a hotel’s former owner. The growl of an unseen animal terrifies employees of a neighbourhood pub. And mysterious chanting, tripped alarms and the appearance of a phantom monk add to an arts centre’s reputation as one of Canada’s most haunted places. These are only a few of the stories recounted in these exciting pages.

This absorbing collection of spooky tales and baffling experiences is sure to entertain even the most sceptical of readers.