Discovery Channel is Premiering a New Show and it's Going to be Awesome

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Over the Waves: M/V Flare

The bulk carrier was making a routine crossing, but her lack of seaworthiness meant she never saw her destination.

Over the Waves: HMS Investigator

This vessel is yet another piece of the infamous Franklin Expedition puzzle. Along with the HMS Enterprise, the HMS Investigator set out to find Franklin and his doomed vessels, the Terror and Erebus, but with no success. Becoming trapped in ice themselves, the crew would have met their own tragic fate were it not for antoher Royal Navy ship becoming trapped in the ice nearby. Today, we’re travelling over the waves to learn about the HMS Investigator.

Over The Waves: SS Princess May

The Canadian Pacific Railway had been expanding its range since it’s creation in 1881, increasing their portfolio to include both railways and steamships ,and creating a way from someone to travel from Liverpool, UK to Japan, China, or Hong Kong without ever needing to change carriers. In 1901, they purchased the Canadian Pacific Navigation Company and added West Coast coastal ships to their list of services. This new division, the Canadian Pacific Railway Coast Service, sailed a fleet of “Princess” ships from Vancouver, BC to Skagway, Alaska. One of these ships is the one whose story we’re looking at this week – the SS Princess May.

Over the Waves: A.J. Goddard

During the Klondike gold rush, people rushed to the Yukon to try and cash in on the action. A series of prefabricated sternwheelers were constructed in San Francisco, shipped up to Alaska, and then moved across to the Yukon. They were assembled on the shores of Lake Bennett and then used to transport miners, supplies, and equipment up to Dawson City and back again. Today, only one wreck remains that showcases these unique ships. This week, we're looking at the story of the A.J. Goddard.

Over the Waves: RMS Nascopie

This week I was looking for a story that would bring us back up to Northern Canada, and as I looked around I found the story of this ship. While reading up on it, I learned more about a part of Canadian History that I previously didn't know that much about. From the banks of Newcastle-on-Tyne where she was built, to a reef outside Cape Dorset where she would come to rest, this ship lead a colourful and important career for one of Canada's largest merchant groups. This is the story of the RMS Nascopie.

Over the Waves: SS City of Ainsworth

This week, we're going straight to the other coast, to the province of British Columbia. In 1898, sternwheeler paddle boats were the most common form of transportation on Kootenay Lake. Three different boats made their way to various ports, moving people and cargo across the bay. Then, one cold day in November of that year, one of the ships was caught in a gale and sank. She wouldn't be seen again for almost a century. Today, we're looking at the story of the SS City of Ainsworth.

Over the Waves: HMS Ontario

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season. As I mentioned in my last post, I was back in Ontario visiting family. It was a wonderful visit, and it came to an end far too quickly (as holidays tend to).

While I was home, I was digging through some old books and folders and I came across a newspaper clipping. When I was away at university, my mum used to go through the paper and if she came across an article she thought I'd be interested in, she would cut it out and leave it on my dresser in my bedroom for the next time I was home. This article surfaced around June 2008, and I had read it and then dutifully tucked it away in a notebook. Turns out, the article was about one of the oldest and most well preserved shipwrecks in Lake Ontario, and it fits perfectly with my 2015 Shipster plan. So, thanks Mum!

Over the Waves: Maud

The Northwest Passage has long been a route which many ships have tried to traverse, and a large number have failed while trying. This past summer, the HMS Erebus was discovered, a ship affiliated with the Franklin Expedition of the Northwest Passage. Another ship, lesser known unless you are from the area, is the Maud, a Norwegian oak-hulled exploration vessel that was claimed by the icy waters off the Nunavut coast in the 1920s. It is this wreck that we're looking at for this week's Over the Waves.