Grand Bank Schoonermen

Growing up in a small coastal fishing community meant that many Newfoundlanders were Introduced at an early age to the hardships of life at sea. It was with no exception that Sam Bradley, at the tender age of seven, had his first of many sea adventures. Over a span of some 20 years, starting at age 12, Bradley experienced all aspects of the harsh yet stimulating life as a Grand Bank schoonerman. His story chronicles a life of fraught with danger and hardship starting out as a young deck hand on board his uncle's small fishing boat to that as skipper of several fine Grand Bank schooners. This first hand account provides a graphic look at life onboard a turn of the century schooner through the expressive words of an accomplished sea captain.

Bradley's story does not end there, as the narrator goes on to tell how in 1907 Captain Sam Bradley decided to give up the sea and moved his family to Western Canada where he took up a settlers life homesteading on land granted to him by the newly incorporated province of Saskatchewan. Prairie life was not easy yet the Bradley's not only survived, they made a good life for themselves. In 1913, after selling his land to the CPR railroad and making a tidy sum of money, Sam moved his family back to Newfoundland to raise cattle and be close to his ailing mother. Farming on the Burin Peninsula proved to be more difficult than anticipated so Sam returned to what he was born to be, a Grand Bank schoonerman.