Sailors’ superstitions
May 17th, 2022
R. Bruce Macdonald (at right and below) launches his book Never Say P*G: The Book of Sailors’ Superstitions (Harbour Publishing $22.95) at the Vancouver Maritime Museum on Thursday, May 26th at 6:30 pm.
This event will take place in-person and online.
Macdonald will lead the evening with entertaining tales of marine superstitions followed by a question-and-answer period and a book signing.
Never Say P*G is the quintessential book for anyone interested in sailing or maritime pursuits. It’s an easy-to-use volume with superstitions listed in alphabetical order, so readers can savour the book by limiting themselves to a single entry a day or skip ahead to discover the background behind their own practices.
Covering maritime superstitions from coast to coast, including the Great Lakes of Canada, Never Say P*G explains such superstitions as A: why killing an albatross is bad luck, but seeing one is good luck—to B: why bananas are so feared that some sailors only refer to them as “that curved yellow fruit”—to C: clapping aboard a ship will bring thunder.
Bruce Macdonald is a writer, sailor and artist with a passion for Canadian history. He has logged over 100,000 nautical miles and, for many years, lived along the BC coast aboard Canada’s heritage Arctic tall ship, North Star of Herschel Island, the only fully rigged ship in Canada. His previous books include: North Star of Herschel Island (Friesen Press, 2012) and Sisters of the Ice (Lost Moose Books, 2021).
Admission to the book launch is free, but registration is required for both virtual and in-person attendance. Books are available to purchase during the event from the Vancouver Maritime Museum gift shop. For more information or to register, please visit https://vanmaritime.com/never-say-pg-the-book-of-sailors-superstitions/
Great interview today on CBC now need to find my way to Museum by transit or will we be able to buy book and have it mailed out to us?