Staying the Course
TriNav Group Directors (from left) Trevor Decker, Paul Pinhorn and Rick Young discuss the launch for the first edition of The Navigator back in 1997.
No one said it was going to be easy.
And it wasn’t. There were a few choppy seas along the way but it worked — The Navigator Magazine is 20 years old this month and going as strong as ever.
It all started in 1997 — a milestone year for me.
After spending more than 30 years behind a microphone, I took an early retirement from ...
Ernest Thornhill – A Man of Uncommon Courage and Bravery
Captain Bert Boertien has had his fair share of injuries including broken bones in his fishing career.
The renowned fishing skipper from Souris, P.E.I. also had several close calls that could have been fatal, but on each occasion, luck and lots of it, was on his side. From his room at a nursing home in Souris, he loves to recount those stories and share them with friends. The Navigator was lucky enough to hear a few.
In 1969, Bert’s fishing vessel, North Bay caught fire and sank off ...
Two Names But One of a Kind
Nova Scotia’s Legendary Fisheries Journalist is Gone
You know that someone with two sets of names, both first and last, was bound to be an interesting person and the man we spelled as “Alain Meuse” was more than just interesting — there was no one quite like him.
Allen Muise, as he was officially named, passed away on August 5, 2017 and his loss leaves a huge gap in fisheries journalism in southwest Nova Scotia.
For us at the Navigator his passing means the loss of a colleague. ...
The Tragedy of the Miss Ally – Part V
Above photo: Fishermen’s Memorial in Woods Harbour, Nova Scotia
The last communication between the fishing vessel Miss Ally was just before 11 p.m. Sunday, February 17, 2013. Not long after that, the vessel’s emergency locator beacon sounded. At that time, the Joint Rescue Coordinating Centre (JRCC) and Coast Guard staff realized that the 44-foot boat had likely succumbed to the storm that was raging off eastern Nova Scotia. A few hours later, two Coast Guard staff were asked to go ...
The Tragedy of the Miss Ally – Part IV
Above photo: William Alexander — the Coast Guard ship that was tasked to the location of the Miss Ally
On Saturday, Feb. 16, 2013, Katlin Nickerson’s plan was to haul halibut lines and head for port with a good paying trip in the fish hold of the Miss Ally. But darkness closed in and the crew couldn’t find the markers to finish taking back the last several lines of gear. Katlin decided to wait until daylight to finish the job and then head to port. Not far away, an intense storm ...
All in the Family
Above Photo: Harris Richards (on the engine), Glen Richards (front left) in yellow and Hubert Richards (front right)
Harrison (Harris) Richards has fished alongside his brothers for 50 years.
In fact, for many of those years, there were at least five and sometimes six brothers fishing onboard the same vessel.
His eldest brother is Willis Whyatt. Willis carries his mother’s maiden name because his father drowned in 1941 when Willis was just five months old. His mom, Elizabeth ...
The Tragedy of the Miss Ally – Part III
The fishing vessel Miss Ally out of Wood’s Harbour, Nova Scotia, had fished halibut more than 100 miles offshore for four days before heading for port on February 17, 2013. Captain Katlin Nickerson and his four crewmembers were all young men and close friends. The fishing had been fair during their four days at sea, but word of an approaching storm scheduled to slam the area on Sunday evening sent most vessels scurrying for safety by Saturday night or early next morning. The Miss Ally ...
The Dutchman in the Promised Land – Part II
Last month, we introduced you to a hard-working fishing skipper from Souris, Prince Edward Island. Bert Boertien moved to Canada from Holland in 1950, two months before his 18th birthday. After trying his hand at farming on Prince Edward Island for a couple of years, Bert later decided on a life at sea and went fishing. In 1959, he purchased the 65-foot dragger North Bay, the first of a series of vessels that he would own or captain as he carried out a very successful fishing career for over 30 ...
The Tragedy of the Miss Ally – Part II
The loss of the Miss Ally still sends chills down the spines of fishing families in southwestern Nova Scotia. Five young men died when the 44-foot vessel was overwhelmed by a huge wave as they were steaming home from a fishing trip. Last month, we introduced you to Della Sears Newell, the mother of the young captain of the Miss Ally. Della told us about her son and his accomplishments. She also told us about driving Katlin to the boat on February 12, 2013 and watched as his longliner headed out ...
The Tragedy of the Miss Ally – Part I
It was a grey day in February 2017 as Della Sears Newell sat at her kitchen table viewing a scrapbook containing pages of newspaper clippings, hand-written notes and an unofficial log of activities from the Joint Rescue Coordinating Centre (JRCC) in Halifax dated February 16 and 17, 2013.
Oblivious to the light snow falling outside her window, Della was at home on Cape Sable Island, just days before the fourth anniversary of the loss of her son.
Della is emotional and stressed, but also ...
