Profile: Marianne Scott Receives Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Maritime Achievement

Marianne Scott receiving the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Maritime Achievement. Credit: John Yanyshyn

Jan 23, 2025

By Mathew Channer

Victoria, BC – based writer, sailor, and Canadian Boating contributor Marianne Scott has been awarded the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Maritime Achievement for her contributions to Canada’s marine community.  The award recognizes 25 years of writing in the maritime sector, during which Scott has covered a broad range of marine topics including travel, environment, history and culture.

Scott has been extensively published in Canada, the US, Australia, and Great Britian, including in Canadian Boating Magazine, Pacific Yachting, International Yachtsman, Cruising World, Northwest Yachting, and many others. She has authored 3 books on marine topics. She also served as a shortlist judge for the predecessor of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Maritime Achievement, the S.S. Beaver Award for Maritime Excellence.

Scott was unaware that she had been nominated for the award until she received it. She was nominated by Canadian marine artist and writer Gordon Miller but says she was thrilled to receive the award.

“It’s really nice that a contemporary writer who writes about all sorts of things in the marine sector also gets recognized,” she said. “I think I have highlighted an enormous number of issues.”

Scott began sailing on Lake Ontario in 1984, shortly after moving to Canada from Ohio. Already a writer, she switched her attention to marine writing when she and her husband sailed their 35-foot monohull to French Polynesia in the late 1990’s. The pair have since sailed extensively in Europe, Canada’s West Coast and Alaska, and now live in Victoria, BC, where she is closely connected to the marine community.

“One of the things I really enjoy about writing in the maritime space is you get to know so many people,” she said. “It’s really fun.” 

The Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Maritime Achievement is a collaboration between the Government House Foundation and the Maritime Museum of BC that recognizes and acknowledges individuals and organizations in British Columbia who have made noteworthy contributions to BC’s maritime interests in the areas of science, technology, business, applications of maritime skills, nautical heritage and culture, art, and academic endeavours.

Visit Marianne Scott’s website.