A Coast Tragedy Without Parallel

I really wanted to begin the new year with more of an upbeat story. But...

I also didn’t want to do another shipwreck so soon after the S.S. M.G. Zalinski, either. But...

I was reminded of the poor Cowan during a recent visit to Ross Bay Cemetery where I noticed Capt. Thompson’s headstone.

The story of the four-masted steel sailing ship Janet Cowan suits this time of year as she was wrecked with loss off life at about the 19 kilometre mark of the West Coast Trail on New Year’s Day, 1895.

So...the sad story of the ill-fated Janet Cowan in next week’s Chronicles.

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PHOTO: Ships of sail had little chance if they strayed off course along Vancouver Island’s western shore which was long known as the ‘Graveyard of the Pacific,’ and for “a wreck for every mile”. —Cowichan Valley Citizen