Captain Bill Noon is nautical royalty in B.C., and part of Canadian history.
It was summer of 2014 when Bill led his crew on the Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker Sir Wilfred Laurier to the Arctic for chart-making, just as he had every second year since 2010. Only 12-13 per cent of the Arctic was charted at the time, and he was part of the team learning more about the North.
on top of ship plan (photo by Jonathan Moore, Parks Canada)
“It was great fun to explore and get to know the area, which was a passion of mine. Parks Canada heard we were up there and asked if they could join us to hunt for the Franklin Expedition. Of course, I said yes.”
A self-declared history nerd since childhood, he loved their quest. In the shelf he had built into his captain’s chambers to house his books were tomes on the Franklin Expedition.
“For a week or two during our summer expeditions, Parks were with us.” However, Bill wasn’t optimistic about finding anything that year.
“We had planned to spend all summer in one area but we got completely iced out. We had to change the plan and search in an entirely different area.”
But then, on September 2, 2014, the unexpected occurred. “We sent the helicopter to shore to set up a science station and the crew found the steel base of a ship’s davit. It had the Royal Navy marking. The archeologists and I knew exactly where it came from: one of the Franklin ships. We couldn’t believe it. It was just so exciting. We knew that we were close, and within two or three days we found one of the ships, HMS Erebus. We were beyond ecstatic. But our next reaction was ‘What do we now?’’’
With his characteristic humour, Bill says there were “buckets” of processes.
“I discovered I had this thick binder of protocols onboard that I had never looked at. I raced through it only to discover we had to shut off every form of communication. We couldn’t talk to anyone. In a fabulous twist of irony, people thought something had happened to us!”
Not one for pomp and ceremony, he was supposed to fly to Ottawa for the fanfare but Bill refused. “The cabinet minister came to us and we celebrated with the local community and the Elders who we knew and had a relationship with — that was so much better.”
However, he was thrilled to talk about the discovery. “I was doing stories all around the world, I even went to Australia. It was a wonderful experience. To be part of the riddle was just fantastic. I won the history jackpot.”
And there is nothing better than when good fortune finds someone as kind, good-natured and humble as Bill.
“I started by cleaning toilets and doing rope work and worked on deck for a bunch of years at very small lifeboat stations and on smaller ships. I gradually increased my sea time and then went to Camosun College [in Victoria]. I got my first watchkeeping mate certificate there and then started working on larger and larger ships over the next 10 or 20 years and eventually got my captain’s certificate and then stayed at that level.”
For 10 years he was captain on the Coast Guard’s John P Tully, a search and rescue ship on the West Coast that conducted oceanography. “We had offshore science trips looking at geology, biology, ocean sciences, species at risk and we had mammal trips to count orcas and humpback whales. That was great fun.”
And then, in the late 2000s, he joined the Laurier as captain and worked up north. “I have to say global warming sure is real. I first went there in 1994, and then 2018 — it has completely changed. There have been astonishing changes in the amount of ice and the culture. It has gone from being isolated to almost busy there because with the ice melt, boats now have access. When I first went, nobody was there.”
“Everything about the sea is fascinating. You never stop learning. The environment is always changing between nature, the weather and geology. The big events are few and far between unless they make the news, but the work I did and they still do provides valuable insight into our seas, and builds on our knowledge of our earth and oceans. And, of course, I met some incredible people.”
Bill’s original career plan didn’t pan out. “I met with the recruiter for the Air Force when I was 17 or 18. When I stood up [Bill is over 6 feet tall], he said: ‘Bill, have you ever been in an F104? If you were to eject, it would rip your legs right off.’ Then he handed me a form for the Army.”
Thankfully, Bill followed his heart instead, went after his dream and looked to the sea.
His tales include sailing the entire Northwest Passage and a circumnavigation of our continent, from Victoria to Quebec City. “I am one of the fortunate few to have done that. Not many people get that lucky.”
Retired since 2019, he spends a great deal of time sailing on Messenger III, his majestic wooden soon-to-be 100-year-old vessel that served as a missionary/medical boat sailing the West Coast for decades. He has owned her for almost 25 years.
She merges his love of history and the sea, the perfect combination. “It is incredible how Messenger III brings people together. I discovered that Life Magazine has a database of 240 historical images of Messenger travelling the West Coast in the 1950s with beautiful photos of the people and communities she visited. This one time, I was tied up at Secret Cove and a woman in her 70s came to talk to me. I showed her a picture and asked if she knew anyone in it. It turned out she was one of the school girls in the photo and I just about fell over. I love meeting people who have a tie to Messenger. So many family memories come together. Boats like Messenger connect people.”
Not surprising, Bill has sat on the board of the Maritime Museum of British Columbia for 40 years, and is passionate about preserving maritime history. He also chairs Victoria’s successful annual Classic Boat Festival, which takes place Labour Day weekend every year.
“What makes a wooden boat so special is that every one of them is different. Each has its own character and personality. His beloved Messenger III has gone to 42 of the 45 years of the festival’s history. “She is part of the furniture.”
When not at sea, he spends time with his partner Sandra.
Ten years since the discovery of the Erebus, he still feels awe. “So many bits and pieces had to come together for us to find her. It was remarkable and completely serendipitous when you think about it.”
Bill’s passion for sailing is infectious and makes you want to grab your wellies and sea cap. Most of all, it is magnificent that someone who loves history so much has made it himself.
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