by Paul Howard, an extraordinary sailor, adventurer, and community leader, passed away peacefully on November 30, 2024, at 80, after a courageous battle with cancer. Known for his deep knowledge, sailing expertise, and inspiring optimism, Paul circumnavigated the globe with his wife, Fiona, and their children, authored books on their adventures, and advocated for Toronto’s sailing community as Commodore of the Outer Harbour Sailing Federation. A passionate teacher and fixer of all things, Paul left a lasting impact on family, friends, and fellow sailors. A celebration of his remarkable life will take place this summer.
Obituary Guestbook
PAUL THOMAS HOWARD
Paul passed away peacefully on November 30, 2024, at 80 years old, after a year-long battle with cancer.
Paul was a builder, an author, a sailor, an adventurer, a thinker, a leader, an endlessly patient teacher, a fixer of anything, and a beloved husband, father, brother, and grandfather.
Paul was born on April 17, 1944, on a Dorr, Michigan farm, to John and Eleanor Howard. He worked from a young age, caring for cows, growing and selling Christmas trees, and working at the family sawmill. Paul attended Western Michigan University from 1964 to 66 and served in the Peace Corps in Nigeria and Togo from 1966 to 1968, building roads, bridges, and aquaculture farms.
Back at WMU from 1969-1972, he completed a degree in Social Work. He organized an 8,000-person rally in Kalamazoo and ten buses to the 1969 Washington, DC, National Moratorium March to end the Vietnam War. Paul moved to Toronto in 1972 and met his life partner, Fiona McCall, in a sailing club for people who did not own a boat on a traditional Hong Kong junk in 1973.
He wrote Make Your Own Furniture, and in 1975, they travelled to England and purchased the aging gaff cutter Seagull, sailing from England through France to the Mediterranean. They later purchased Lady Fiona, a 21′ junk-rigged fibreglass boat, and travelled down the River Danube through Germany, Romania, and Bulgaria to Istanbul and Greece. Fiona became pregnant in Greece, and they loaded Lady Fiona and themselves onto a cargo ship from Piraeus to Jacksonville, FL. They sailed north to Toronto, making it back in 1977 with three weeks to spare.
Paul cared for their baby, Penny, and later Peter, while Fiona worked full-time, wrote Easy-to-make Wooden Furniture for Children (1981), and fit out the bare steel hull of a 29′ foot junk-rigged sailboat, Lorcha, for family living. In 1983, Paul and Fiona left Toronto on Lorcha with Penny (6) and Peter (4). They circumnavigated the world via the Azores, Brazil, Panama, Pitcairn, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Australia, and South Africa, returning to Toronto in 1988. They used only a sextant and short-range VHF for navigation and communication for the first two years.
Paul and Fiona co-authored All in the Same Boat (1988) and Still in the Same Boat (1990) about this journey, as well as articles in the Toronto Star, Canadian Yachting, Cruising World, TV spots on CFTO, and a TV documentary, All in the Same Boat: A Sea of Dreams. Paul and Fiona completed two more ocean voyages on the catamaran Carpe Diem. Between 2001-2005, they sailed to Labrador, around the north end of Iceland to the Faroe Islands, and south through Scotland to Brazil and Argentina, rounding Cape Horn and spending time around Ushuaia, the Beagle Channel, and southern Chile.
From 2012 to 2015, they sailed from Toronto to Alaska and Haida Gwaii via Panama. When US soldiers and conscientious objectors started seeking refuge in Canada from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Paul joined the War Resisters Support Campaign, providing accommodation, finding them work, and taking them sailing.
In their 70s, Paul and Fiona traded the ocean-going Carpe Diem for the racier catamaran Rain and sailed the new boat from Florida to Toronto in 2017. Paul raced Rain at the Toronto Multihull Cruising Club and usually won. Paul was elected Commodore of the TMCC in 2016, having been an active member since 1999. In 2020, he was elected Commodore of the Outer Harbour Sailing Federation, a group of eight cooperative watersport clubs with almost 2,000 members. Paul helped found Friends of Cherry Beach and Outer Harbour in 2021 to advocate to government on behalf of local sailors, kayakers, and windsurfers.
His nautical knowledge was instrumental in fostering better understanding among these groups.
Paul held many jobs, including farm hand, head sawyer at the family sawmill, night janitor, social worker, and writer on topics ranging from sailing to DIY to being a full-time father. He worked as a yacht broker in a marine supply store and as a production manager for the Cape Horn boat-building company.
Paul was the third of six children, including Mary Ellen Weber, Veronica “Riky” Drenovsky, and Mark Howard, with Peter and Ted Howard already passed away. He leaves behind his beloved wife of 51 years, Fiona McCall; children, Penny McCall Howard (Warren Smith) and Peter Howard (Laura Burke); grandchildren, Ivy, Felix, Simon, and Benji; and nieces and nephews, including Rachel, Rebecca, Mike, Tim, Tom, Kelly, and Sam, plus 17 more on Fiona’s side.
Sincere thanks to the kind and compassionate staff at Princess Margaret and Toronto General Hospitals, Wellcare Pharmacy on College St., and home nurses Tatiana Zakharina and Alesia Vasilyeva.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Outer Harbour Sailing Camp. Paul was a dedicated advocate for the Outer Harbour Sailing Camp, which provides free sailing lessons to youth ages 6-17 from diverse backgrounds, including those with disabilities, supported by volunteer work, donations, and our OHSF clubs.
Funeral, Saturday, December 14, 2024, 10:30 a.m., for an 11 a.m. service, Cardinal Funeral Home, 366 Bathurst St., Toronto. Also available: Online Broadcast.
Obituary Published in the Toronto Star online on December 8, 2024.