Pender Harbour Wooden Boat Show
Speaker Series

Speaker Series


Saturday August 3, 11:00am School of Music doors open 10:30am

Finding Franklin’s Lost Ships:  HMS Erebus and HMS Terror” Captain William (Bill) Noon


Captain Noon was the master of the Canadian Coast Guard Ship (CCGS) Sir Wilfrid Laurier for the 2014 Victoria Straits expedition which found HMS Erebus and was again in the Arctic for the finding of the second Franklin expedition ship in 2016. He joined the Canadian Coast Guard in 1981 and has served as a Navigation Officer on numerous ships in British Columbian coastal waters and in the Canadian Arctic.  Since 1998, Captain Noon has commanded Coast Guard ships on the B.C. Coast and the Canadian Arctic.  

  In September 2014, as Captain of  Sir Wilfrid Laurier, together with Parks Canada and the Canadian Hydrographic Service, he played a key role in the discovery of HMS Erebus. HMS Erebus was one of two ships from Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated quest to find the Northwest Passage that began in 1845 and ended when his vessels became stuck in ice with the subsequent loss of the entire crew. In 2016, the HMS Terror was also located and the CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier was again the platform for the first dives and acoustic surveys on the second missing ship.  Captain Noon has a keen interest in maritime heritage and has been a trustee for the Maritime Museum of British Columbia. He is also the Chair of the Victoria Classic Boat Festival and is a member of the Thermopylae Club of Victoria, which aims to protect and preserve the nautical history of Canada’s west coast. His remaining time is spent restoring and cruising aboard his 70-year-old wooden boat, Messenger III, a former coastal mission boat.  


Saturday, August 3, 1pm, School of Music doors open 12:30pm

Were is Pender Harbour Howard White

As Howard and Mary White and their staff travel around Canada and the world promoting books published by Harbour Publishing, the question is invariably  asked “Where is Pender Harbour?” People are always incredulous to learn that such a well-established book publisher could be located in such a remote and unlikely location. Even the Whites’ business colleagues in Vancouver and Victoria find it weird, and are never done suggesting the operation would do better in a more central location. But for the Whites, living in Pender Harbour has always come first and finding some way to earn a living there second. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s always been interesting. And this year marks Harbour’ s 50th year in business. In this talk Howard will recount some of the ups and downs along the way. 


Sunday August 4, 1pm, School of Music doors open 12:30pm

Whose Boat Was That? Issac Vanderhorst

Isaac Vanderhorst shares tales of past visits to Pender Harbour made by the grand old yachts of yesteryear – and who was on them.