R. L. Boudreau
Born in May 1951 in Baddeck, N.S., Robert Louis (Lou) Boudreau, author of “The Man Who Loved Schooners”, first went to sea when he was six months old aboard the famous 98 foot schooner Yankee. His father owned and sailed the schooner in the beautiful Bras D’Or Lakes of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.
When Lou was a year old the Boudreaus left Canada and voyaged south to warmer climes. Sailing out of Miami, Florida, they eventually ran their charter cruises in the West Indies. Lou spent his early childhood on the island of St. Lucia, where he became fluent in the local patois language. Lou grew up sailing the Caribbean aboard such vessels as the 100 ft. schooner Doubloon and the 98 ft. Howard Chappelle designed Baltimore clipper Caribbee, both owned by his father.
In 1957, the Boudreau family embarked on a 14,000 mile deep sea voyage on the Caribbee, visiting many interesting ports in the Mediterranean and North Africa. The adventure under sail made a deep and lasting impression on young Lou.
In 1968, at age 16, Lou joined the crew of the 135-foot Hereshoff schooner Ramona on a voyage to Nova Scotia, and following this, left school to follow the sea permanently. The young seafarer’s apprenticeship saw him on some well-known sailing vessels including the 143 ft. schooner Bluenose II and the 137 ft. Hereshoff schooner Le Voyageur.
After sitting for his master’s papers, he ran the 90-ft ketch Atlanta, and the 138 ft. Hereshoff schooner Mariette, noteworthy because she was the only schooner other than the mighty Bluenose to beat the Gloucester racer Gertrude L. Thebaud.
Over the years, Captain Lou Boudreau has experienced the exciting and the terrifying. He became an avid spear-fisherman, free diving for grouper on Bahamian reefs as well as an avid big game fisherman. Through hurricanes, an attempted drug hijacking in the Bahamas and a shipboard fire during a storm off the African coast, he has led the adventurer’s life.
Swallowing the anchor in 1996 he returned to Canada where he devotes his time to writing. His first book “The Man Who Loved Schooners” was published in 2000. A fictional novel “Fandango’s Gold” was published in 2006. “Where The Trade Winds Blow”, which chronicles his own life is Lou’s latest. Lou has completed a number of other manuscripts, two of which are tentatively titled “Tales from the Captain’s Table” and “Bluenose, A Voyage Under Sail”.
A quote:
“There resides in everyone the spirit of adventure, that small flame that inspires life’s quest. All that is required is the kindling and then it will burn brightly. The first sips of freedom’s heavy brew are intoxicating and will pull you ever onwards, as it has me. Drink freely of it and you will not be disappointed. May fair winds fill your sails and the lee shore never find you.”
Capt. Lou Boudreau
May 12th 1998 Nova Scotia
