Coming from generations of English blue water sailors, Heather Harbord arrived in Canada in 1963. She lived in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia before returning to British Columbia in 1977. She now makes her home in Powell River, B.C. in a house overlooking three islands with ferries running between two of them. Eagles wheel overhead and sea lions bark as they swim along the beach two blocks down the hill. In the evening, the sun sinks behind snow capped mountains.

Degrees in Social Anthropology and Geography from Edinburgh University and Librarianship at UBC sparked a lifelong interest in travelling which has taken her to Antarctica, the Canadian Arctic as well as India, China, Australia, the South Pacific and many parts of Europe and the U.S.

She was a sea kayaker for over 50 years. Until recently, she loved to skim over glassy seas, rocked by gentle swells, or to paddle in shallow water peering at underwater marvels. Summer camping trips governed by the tides were the norm and sometimes still happen. Much of her writing reflects her exploration of coastal British Columbia.