ABOUT BOBS NAUTICAL

Canada is a self sufficient but not an isolated country. Nowhere else on this globe do people enjoy a better quality of life. This is to a large extent a heritage left by the men and vessels of the Great Lakes during the nineteenth century. The sailing vessels of the Great Lakes were the agent of discovery, the harbinger of development of Upper Canada. The lakes and rivers and bays that make up the Great Lakes chain were the highways, and the sailing vessels were the trucks that rode on them. The basic purpose of Bobs Nautical website is to provide a base whereby those who come after can learn how our Great Lakes commerce has been built up, first by the canoes of the Indians, then by sail and later by steam. The history of navigation on our inland seas from the very beginning is so full of interest. The wooden Ships and iron men who manned them has meant much to this Canada of ours. My first nautical book,  Tales from the Great Lakes was about the sailing vessels on the Great Lakes, schooners and yachts, the people who built them and the people that sailed them and the ports to which they sailed in the early years of the Province of Ontario. This book was based the Columns of C.H.J. Snider. When Canvas Was King, MASTER MARINER, was a book about life on the Great Lakes from 1859 to the 1920s when the sailing vessels contributed to the development and character of Canada as a nation. That book is centred on the life of Captain John Williams, a distinguished Canadian, a role model for generations to come, who had the qualities of leadership, humility, wideawakeness, courage, skill, experience and the ability to take a chance at the right time. It was meant to provide the reader with a sense of the tremendous maritime heritage of Central Canada in an interesting format for both sailors and landlubbers alike. When Canvas was King, Quinte and Prince Edward was an attempt to provide the reader with many of the true stories of the maritime heritage of the Bay of Quinte and Prince Edward County, stories that may rival in interest anything told of the lands of chivalry and romance. There are stories of shipwrecks, ship builders and many county men who became famous as captains of vessels on the Great Lakes. We went on to write the Story of HMS Speedy, the Story of HMS St.Lawrence, the ship that won the war of 1812, and then the Story of the Battle of the Thousand Islands, the last naval battle for the North American Continent between the English and the French, and then Who was Canadas Greatest Yachtsman. Finally we wrote "Bobs Nautical" a dictionary and glossary of all things nautical. There are so many more interesting stories that should be remembered. Stories like that of Canadas greatest Heroine, Abigail Becker, and my personal favourite, Rene Hypolite Laforce. Hopefully this site will expand to tell so many of those almost forgotten stories of our maritime heritage.

Robert B. Townsend.

The last battle in the conquest of Canada was a naval battle, a freshwater battle fought by twelve thousand men in the Islands of the St.Lawrence River. With the sounds of the great river's first rapids in the background, came the crash of a thousands cannon shots, rendering timbers, splintering of oars, tearing of canvas, screaming of shells, crackling of musketry and banging of howitzers spread over seven days and nights.

Price 11..95   available from Virtual Impact Inc.  1 800 850 7721

This book records many of the true stories descriptive of the rich maritime heritage of the Bay of Quinte and Prince Edward County; stories that may rival in interest anything told of the lands of chivalry and romance. There are stories of the shipwrecks along the south coast of the county. which is arguably the shipwreck capital of the Great Lakes. Lake ballads were at one time an important part of the sea life of the Great Lakes. Many of those that directly relate to the county, and county people, are included with their stories. There are also stories of some of the famous shipbuilders of the days when Canvas was King and shipbuilding was a major industry in the County. Stories that highlight some of the famous lake captains from the County, whose skill and courage were instrumental in the development of the Province of Ontario.

. Canadian yachtsmen have been rooted in the best of sailing traditions.   There is a select breed of men with the  halo of fame that sport brings brings who were rooted in the all the best of sailings traditional skills,. They  refined and perfected their sailing skills and have sailing performance to a high level. They were not just seamen but artists of sail handling.

This books explores the lives of three of the greatest of Canadian yachtsmen who have set the standard of excellence in yachting for the reader to compare their candidate for the title of  Who Was Canadas Greatest Yachtsman.

Price 7.95  Available from Virtual Impact Marketing,  1 800 850 7721

It is a fact that this St.Lawrence was the deadliest fighting machine on fresh water. She never fired a loaded gun and yet accomplished more than the remainder of the navies of both the British (Canada) and American nations combined. When launched in 1814, during the War of 1812, she was the largest sailing vessel in the western hemisphere, and certainly the most powerful sailing warship to operate in fresh water.

When St.Lawrence was launched There was nothing for the American's to do but withdraw their fleet - sixteen vessels of war, beside transports -from the lake - keep their fleet behind the shoals of Sackett's Harbour and pray for an early winter.

Price 5 .00  Available from the author, 613 394 2682

The format of this book is to present many of the stories originally appearing in the Schooner Days Columns of C.H. J. Snider, portaying the nautical heritage of Ontario in Schooner Days,

13.99   Cdn. Available from Dundurn Press or Universty of Toronto Press

For Some unknow reason they made me Canadas Yachtsman of the Year for for the year 2002.

This an honour I must share with my wife Mandy, my Seven Children and 14 Grandchildren, some of whom  as shown in the photo alongside, were with me at the presentation and with my fellow members of the Whitby Yacht Club. 

My early recollection of sailing across Lake Onatario from Toronto to Niagara (actually Queenston) was aboard the sidewheeler the S.S. Chippewa.   Those huge arms going up and down to turn the paddles fascinated me as much as the water we were sailling.

I vividly recall seeing the S,S, Toronto at the Docks of Toronto.  A large passenger steamer that traversed the Great Lakes