Molly Kool

Myrtle "Molly" Kool
Born (1916-02-23)February 23, 1916
Alma, New Brunswick, Canada
Died February 25, 2009(2009-02-25) (aged 93)
Bangor, Maine, U.S.
Cause of death Pneumonia
Resting place Herring Cove, Fundy National Park
Nationality Canadian / American
Known for First female sea captain in North America[1]
Title Captain
Spouse(s) Ray Blaisdell, John Carney

Myrtle 'Molly' Kool (February 23, 1916 – February 25, 2009)[2][3] was a Canadian-born American sea captain. She is recognized as being North America's first registered female sea captain or ship master.[4]

Biography

Early life

She was born in Alma, New Brunswick, the daughter of Myrtle Anderson and Paul Kool, a Dutch sailor. She grew up sailing, eventually becoming captain of the Jean K, a 21-metre scow owned by her father.

Career

At 21, she joined the Merchant Marine School in Saint John, New Brunswick She was the only woman to do so. On April 19, 1939, she graduated and received her Master Mariner's papers from the Merchant Marine Institution in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. As a result, a line in the Canadian Shipping Act had to be amended to read "he or she." Her father turned the title to the scow over to her and she captained it for five years, working mainly the pulp and paper trade in the Bay of Fundy.

Later life and death

In 1944, after her ship caught fire,[5] she left life at sea to marry Ray Blaisdell of Bucksport, Maine. Blaisdell died and she remarried, to John Carney of Orrington, Maine.[6] She eventually retired fully after losing both her legs to a vascular disease.

In 2003, a sailing ship was named in her honour. A monument to her accomplishment was erected near the wharf in Alma. Scheduled in 2011, the home she grew up in is being rebuilt with the original remains and an exhibit is coming to the entrance of Fundy National Park.

She spent her remaining years in a seniors care home in Bangor, Maine. She died from pneumonia in a hospital in Bangor. Her ashes were scattered on the Bay of Fundy at Herring Cove, near her birthplace.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Welldon, Christine (2011). Molly Kool: Captain of the Atlantic. Nimbus Publishing.
  2. ↑ Wallace, Kate (February 27, 2009). "Legendary captain Molly Kool dies at 93". Saint John Telegraph-Journal. pp. A1–A2. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  3. ↑ Fox, Margalit (2009-03-02). "Molly Kool, 93, a Pioneer of the Coastal Waters, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  4. ↑ Baird, Donal M. (2001). "Last days of Sail". Women at Sea in the Age of Sail. Nimbus. pp. 2, 215. ISBN 1-55109-267-0.
  5. ↑ "Albert County Heritage 25 - Molly Kool". Albert County Historical Society Museum. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  6. ↑ ""Molly Kool" Carney of Alma New Brunswick the first woman Sea Captain in North America". June 30, 2007. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  7. ↑ "Capt. Molly Kool's ashes spread over Bay of Fundy". CBC News. July 6, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-06.


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