A fascinating narrative and pictorial history of over forty shipwrecks in the dynamic Bay of Fundy region, one of the seven wonders of North America, bordering Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the state of Maine.

We are all drawn to the sea.

Those who call the shores of Fundy home take the twice-daily flooding and ebbing of massive tides as a matter of daily routine. But to visiting mariners, the Bay of Fundy posed particular challenges for their sea-borne commerce. Shipwrecks became part of the lore of Fundy life. They were usually enormously dramatic events, too often sadly tragic, occasionally even touched with humour.

The strong currents associated with the spring tides are probably the greatest reason for shipwreck in the Bay of Fundy. But shipwreck is seldom attributable to one factor alone. Almost every shipping casualty is the result of a combination of problems working together: fog, incompetence, and, of course, the costly and tragic damages inflicted by the fury of storms.

The lore of shipwreck makes up an important part of the history and heritage of the Fundy region. Featuring dozens of paintings and drawings by the author, The Sea Wins: Shipwrecks of the Bay of Fundy vividly recounts more than forty dramatic tales of the real people who faced great odds in their sailing ships, only to discover that inevitably, the sea wins.

With a degree in physics paid for through commercial diving, Eric Allaby's skills served his curiosity well when his diving led him into new ventures searching for shipwrecks around his home island of Grand Manan, NB. While working on a National Museum grant in the 1970s, Allaby pioneered new underwater survey techniques. His passion for shipwreck stories led him to conduct his own research, and his writing and illustration of those stories eventually led to this book.

Eric Allaby's profile page