It has been estimated that between fifteen to twenty thousand ships have meet their end along Canada's eastern seaboard. Many of these wrecks happened between the 1800s to the mid-1900s when the season of bark, brig, brigantine and schooner came and went. This era left behind literally a vast volume - both recorded in print and preserved in local tales - of heroism and tragedy of mariners young and old. Prince Edward Island's legacy of tales from the era of all-sail is great: from the wreck of the immigrant-laden Elizabeth at Cascumpec where the castaways were saved by a native; to the unique tale of PEI's Jessy thrown onto St. Paul's Island; to the strange tale of Rival caught in the “Yankee Gale” and the SS Quebec's demise in the death-dealing tides of East Point, Shipwrecks and Sailors of Prince Edward Island, Volume I will fascinate and educate. Then again, island ships were involved with mystery, mayhem and wreck in practically all parts of the North Atlantic: gripped in sandbars of Sable Island, plundered on the rugged coasts of Newfoundland, drifting with no crew off Ireland, wrecked on Nova Scotia's shores, stranded on the Magdalenes, and “Lost with Crew” in the vast Atlantic. Anything that could happen to a ship has happened to a Prince Edward Island hull and scores of tales within Shipwrecks and Sailors of Prince Edward Island present those weird and wonderful epics. Arranged chronologically, the stories are full of names of our seafaring ancestors, plus descriptions of the local ports that sheltered the ships. For over a hundred years the wooden sailing ship was an important and vital transportation link along the shores of Prince Edward Island. Its maritime records are full of stories in which local ships and their crews played an essential role. Self-sacrifice, daring, skill, wreck and rescue are all part of a fabric which makes up the history of the ships and the heritage of the villages that knew them. Shipwrecks and Sailors of Prince Edward Island has all this and more!

Robert C. Parsons has been called one of the most popular and prolific writers on the subject of Atlantic Canada’s ships and ship disasters. He is the author of more than twenty-five non-fiction books. His work has also appeared in a number of newspapers and magazines such as Downhome, the Telegram, the Newfoundland Quarterly, and Newfoundland Lifestyles.In May 2009, Robert’s nonfiction prose was judged an award winner in the annual Arts and Letters Competition.In December that same year, he was presented with the Polaris Award from the Canadian Coast Guard Alumni Association, Newfoundland and Labrador division, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the preservation and public awareness of the marine heritage and history in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. This award was only given out two previous times in the years of the Alumni Association’s existence.Robert’s book Courting Disaster: True Crime and Mischief on Land and Sea was a Globe and Mail bestseller.A former fish plant worker and educator and a present-day researcher and devotee of all items marine-related, Robert lives in Grand Bank, Newfoundland.

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