Chappy & The Crew

National Yacht Club Cruise 1906 Port Credit.

From 1904 – 1910 Charles ‘Chappy’ Chapman, journaled and took photos of his travels around the world. Through the books below you’ll be transported to another time. Enjoy the journey!

The Log of The Elk

The Elk was a fast racer and in this ship’s log you’ll read about adventures of her crew in the summer of 1907.

August 3rd, 1907 “The trip east, from a scenic point of view is grand, the Scarboro Bluffs, as they are called, rising to a height of two to three hundred feet, and have acquired a formation like the roofs of a continental style of architecture in places that are known locally as the “Dutch Churches”. 

Cover by Sarah Goodwin

Holiday 1909

In 1909, four climbing enthusiasts set out into the mountains north of Vancouver for their summer holidays. On their backs they carried cameras, watercolour paints, fifty-pound packs, surveying equipment, one rifle and a pie.

Their goal was to reach the headwaters of the Seymour Creek, to climb peaks there and to map the area. Over the two weeks they battled thousands of mosquitos, dodged bear and cougar, met the miners of Jungle Town and reveled in the mountain views.

Holiday, 1909 is the journal of one of these climbers, Charles Chapman. Written with wry humour, it tells the story of danger, hardship, and a few practical jokes. There are rousing poems, historic maps, and dozens of breathtaking photos from the peaks of mountains and of the men who climbed there in 1909.

Come enjoy the innocent & exciting stories of yesteryear.

About

Charles ‘Chappy’ Chapman

Charles “Chappy” Chapman got an early start; he left school at twelve and a half to apprentice to a printer. He was 23 in 1905 when he left England to work his way around the world, a journey he completed in 1910. Starting in Toronto, during which The Log of the Elk takes place, he travelled by rail and by boat to New York, Vancouver, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, through the Suez Canal, through the Mediterranean back to England.

Soon back in Vancouver and became active climbing in the local mountains. He was President of the BC Mountaineering Club from 1914-1919, a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, and a President of the Council of Employing Printers and Lithographers. He loved the outdoor life and was an avid photographer, singer, writer and a lifelong learner.