Dangerous Waters: Wrecks and Rescues off the BC Coast - Tapa dura

The coastal waters of British Columbia are among the most treacherous in the world, with steep rocky shores, mazes of reefs, waves fifty feet high, and Pacific storms that blow in unexpectedly with the force of hurricanes. Most vessels that venture forth on these waters arrive safely at their destinations.

Others have not been so lucky. These twenty-one hair-raising accounts of marine disasters and near disasters come from those who lived through them: the fishermen, Sunday boaters and cruise ship passengers; and the rescuers who were there. These are stories of death, near-death, terror and grief. They are also stories of faith, determination, the tremendous courage of ordinary people, and the transformative power of surviving a life-threatening ordeal. The accounts are harrowing, funny, honest and very, very moving.

Keith Keller was born in Vancouver and grew up in the Fraser Valley. He has been a reporter and a teacher, and spent four summer commercial cod fishing from a one-family island off the Labrador coast. He is the author of the BC bestseller Dangerous Waters: Wrecks and Rescues Off the BC Coast, which was shortlisted for the Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice Award for best BC book of the year. He lives on Denman Island with his wife and two daughters.