Boaters are telling us they are looking forward to getting their copy of the 2025 edition of the Waggoner Cruising Guide to start laying their plans for the boating season and to assist them throughout their cruise, with the latest changes and information that Waggoner provides each year. Boaters are also telling us they are looking forward to reading this year’s theme sidebar articles, which share fascinating accounts of how bays, inlets, and islands received their names. An article about the Cracroft Islands in the 2025 Waggoner edition is one of many interesting accounts.
West and East Cracroft Islands in the region of Johnstone Strait were named in 1861 by Captain Richards of HMS Plumper for Sophia Cracroft, the niece of the explorer, Sir John Franklin. Sophia Cracroft accompanied Lady Jane Franklin on her round-the-world voyage that brought them to British Columbia in 1858. They explored the BC coast in 1861 before returning to England. Lady Jane Franklin sponsored or supported seven expeditions in her lifetime after her husband, John Franklin, along with his ships the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, disappeared while attempting to transit the Northwest Passage. Lady Franklin herself traveled extensively, including the Shetland Islands, often accompanied by Sophia Cracroft until Lady Franklin’s passing.
Learn more about Lady Franklin and John Franklin’s 1845 expedition in this theme sidebar article in the 2025 Waggoner Cruising Guide, along with other fascinating stories of well-known boating destinations.
Image: Engraving of HMS Erebus
and HMS Terror – Wikipedia
