In a large covered workshop on the coast of Spain sits Xabier Agote’s life’s work.
Teams of craftsmen are using hand tools to shape each wooden piece of a Spanish galleon.
It’s been hundreds of years since ships like this were built in the Basque Country, and learning how was one of the biggest challenges.
“We are recovering traditional tools, we are using the same type of woods like in the past, mostly oak trees from our nearby forests,” Agote told CBC News in a recent interview.
In the 1500s ships like this were common in towns like Pasaia.
Xabier Agote has dreamed of building a Spanish galleon ever since he heard about the discovery of the San Juan in Labrador. (Albaola Maritime Culture Factory)
Hundreds of Basque shipbuilders would build the ships, which would then head across the Atlantic to hunt whales.
They built the ships from experience and memory. The methods weren’t written down and so over the centuries the knowledge of exactly what the ships were like and how they were built was lost.
Help from a small town in Labrador
That all changed in the late 1970s, when Selma Barkham’s research led her to the town of Red Bay on Labrador’s south coast.
There at the bottom of the harbour, she found what is believed to be the wreck of the San Juan.
In December 1565, the ship was anchored in the harbour, its hold filled with 1,000 barrels of whale oil after a full season of hunting, ready to head back to Europe.
But it broke loose in a storm, sank and was undisturbed for hundreds of years until it was discovered.
The wreck is recognized as one of the best preserved of its era, and Parks Canada carefully recovered all 3,000 pieces of the ship, documenting them.
“They gave us the gift of the secrets of the 16th-century Basque ship building technology that was so important back then,” said Agote.
New workers had to learn traditional boat-building techniques to construct the ship the same way it was in the 1500s. (Albaola Maritime Culture Factory)
Turning that blueprint into a replica hasn’t been easy.
Agote created a school to teach the traditional techniques, a museum to tell the story, and got the backing of UNESCO.
A project that was supposed to take just a few years has now lasted more than a decade — but it’s almost done.
It still needs a mast and some rigging, but next year Agote plans to put it in the water.
And that’s just the beginning — in 2026, he plans to sail the ship back to Labrador.
Canada-bound in 2026
That voyage has drawn interest on both sides of the Atlantic, with Canadian and Spanish officials meeting in Spain last month to start planning the voyage.
Canada’s ambassador to Spain is excited about the potential
“We have this great history that most Canadians, and I would say most Spaniards, most Basque people don’t necessarily know about,” Wendy Drukier told CBC News.
“It’s just a great opportunity to deepen that knowledge and that relationship.”
Much of the knowledge of how Spanish galleons were built was largely lost until the wreck of the San Juan was uncovered in Red Bay, Labrador. (Albaola Maritime Culture Factory)
Gran Baya, as the Basques called what is now Red Bay, was a major centre for whaling, starting in the 1530s.
Whales were hunted for their fat, which would be rendered into oil, put into barrels and shipped to Europe, where it was used for lighting.
Xabier Agote and a team of craftsmen are using hand tools to rebuild a ship known as a spanish galleon. A ship believed to be the San Juan sank off Labrador’s south coast centuries ago but is being meticulously rebuilt with thousands of recovered pieces in a workshop in Spain. The CBC’s Peter Cowan has the whole story, including how two countries have bonded over a relic of the past — to build for the future.
Hundreds of years later, the red roofing tiles that were brought over as ballast in the ships still line the shores.
Cindy Gibbons was just a high school student when she started helping document the San Juan.
Now she’s Parks Canada’s cultural resource management adviser. She ran the heritage site in Red Bay for years.
“For me as, you know, someone who grew up in Red Bay and grew up with this site, I’m sure I echo the sentiments of a lot of people from that community that we’re really looking forward to this, she said.
“This is a very exciting project.”
Spanish officials and Canadian officials, including Labrador Affairs Minister Lisa Dempster, far left, met in Spain met in June to discuss plans to bring the San Juan over to Canada. (Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa)
The provincial minister of Labrador affairs is also excited about the possibility of strengthening ties between two similar peoples, divided by an ocean.
Lisa Dempster says she felt at home as soon as she arrived in Spain.
“With the Basque country I believe as Labradorians we share the adventurous spirit, we share the resilience, we share the strong work ethic, we’re sea people and that’s what unites us,” said Lisa Dempster.
Xabier Agote still has a lot of work to do. He has rope to braid, sails to weave and people to train.
But he’s committed to making sure his ship makes the voyage back to Canada.
“We want to celebrate a common heritage, a heritage that goes both ways of the Atlantic, so I think that’s the best way to get to know each other,” he said.
And when he does make the voyage, people in Labrador will be ready.
“When you leave this harbour, we’ll waiting in Red Bay on the wharf,” said Dempster.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
