Chapter 9

MARINE (Sail- Paddle-Power)

The single most dangerous action you can take on this tour is failing to pay attention while travelling on the route. Do NOT read the following chapter while actively moving by vehicle, car, foot, bike, or boat. MARINE Tour by Sailboat, Kayak, Canoe, Power, etc.

“Upside-down Humpback Whale being pulled up the ramp to the whaling station”

1. Charlaine Boat Ramp (3780 Hammond Bay Rd, Nanaimo, BC V9T 1G3): This tiny launch site provides a great start and finish to the 33 kilometre route. It tends to get less use than other boat ramps in the region and so has a small parking lot. You will be launching into Hammond Bay, named for Lt. George Crispin Hammond, a surveyor for the Hudson’s Bay Company.

The area around the parking lot was the site of a whaling station that only operated for three months (November 1907-January 1908). It was designed to harpoon Humpback Whales wintering in Georgia Strait and drag them up the boat ramp at this location. The Pacific Whaling Company processed up to four whales a day during that short single season, but still managed to take about 100 whales in total, almost wiping out those that frequented this area. One of four whaling stations on , this was the only one on its east coast. After the whaling station the buildings were used a fertilizer plant processing Vitamin A from Dogfish livers until 1912, when buildings were moved to Graham Island near Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands). Some remaining foundations can be seen near the shoreline here.

As you launch into Hammond Bay, facing the water, Neck Point (#25) is to your left, Page/Pipers’ Lagoon (#3) is to your right, and Shack Island (#2) lies straight ahead. These three offshore islands connect to Piper’s Lagoon Park at low tide and passage by watercraft is not possible, so be prepared to travel left of these three islands at lowering tides.

Drone view of Shack Island cabins (Neck Point -- #25 -- behind)

2. Shack Island: This group of three islands contains several historic fishing cabins. Before roads and houses peppered the hillsides around Hammond Bay, these fishing areas were a long way to row or paddle from Nanaimo without motors, so several families established cabins here in the 1930s. Descendants for the original families still use these as summer and weekend cottages.

Orca near Pipers’ Lagoon

3. Pipers’ Lagoon Park: Originally, this area was traditional hunting and fishing grounds for the Snuneymuxw people. They had a seasonal settlement where the current parking lot and grassy fields are located. The lagoon and shallows provided them with clam harvesting opportunities. They fished, hunted, and even pursued whales in the waters nearby.

Initially called Page’s Lagoon, it was named after the local, Louis Page, who lived in a cabin on Neck Point (#25), then called Page’s Point. Page’s Lagoon still shows up on many nautical charts.

However, the Piper family (Joseph E. Piper and his two sons, Joseph Howard Piper and Cyril Lawson Piper) purchased 142 acres (57.5 hectares) of waterfront and set about farming sheep. Cougars killed many of their sheep and this endeavour failed. They then rented out summer cabins on the beach, but only generated enough money to pay their land taxes. From 1948 to 1952, they leased 6 acres (2.4 hectares) to a lumber sawmill that failed and shared their beach with a short-lived cannery. Remnants of boat rails can be seen among the stones. Nevertheless, the Lagoon was renamed as belonging to all three Pipers and the name stuck on all land maps.

c.1900 map excerpt of Nanaimo Surface Geology (green = igneous; yellow = sedimentary)

4. Stevenson Point: As you round this point, notice the interesting geological history of the Nanaimo region. Here are examples of two kinds of rocks: igneous (formed from fire by volcanic processes) and sedimentary (deposited in layers, then glued together by extreme pressures). This is the only place on this tour where you will see both kinds of rock together.

The igneous rock is called basalt, from 210 million years ago in the Triassic period. When basalt comes out of a volcano as lava and cools slowly if can form six-sided columns like those on the Devil’s Tower in Wyoming or the Devil’s Causeway in Northern Ireland. In this region, liquid magma flowed out into seawater and cooled rapidly on the outside, while remaining liquid inside for much longer. This formed “pillow” basalt, so look for rounded, well-defined lumps.

The three sedimentary rocks from 90 million years ago in the Cretaceous period are sandstone, conglomerate, and limestone. These are layers of deposited sand, pebbles or coral, respectively that were squashed together under the weight of other layers and water. Look for sandpaper- like stone; this is obviously sandstone. Look for concrete composed of pebbles in cement; this is conglomerate. Look for white specks in creamy grey; this is limestone. The only layer missing is coal, formed from compressed carbon-based plants and animals; black coal is found in Nanaimo.

Kayak paddling through sandstone caves on Jesse Island

5. Jesse Island: Stay between this island and the shoreline to view sea caves: explore only by small watercraft like a canoe or kayak. Exercise additional caution when near and inside the cave.

Original building for the Pacific Biological Station, 1908

6. Brandon Island: Stay between two islands and shoreline to view the Pacific Biological Station, with two dozen structures, and the Canada Fisheries South Coast office behind it. One of nine federal research facilities, many scientists currently study marine life, fish productivity, ocean habitat, aquaculture, and genetic diversity. With over a century of continuous operations, its founding in 1908 was recently designated a Significant Event of National History. The original building had a library, photographic darkroom, and dining room, with living and working space for eight scientists and four visitors. A nearby caretaker’s cottage held the kitchen.

Coal loading at Departure Bay with Brandon and Jesse Islands nearby

7. Departure Bay: Two to three thousand years ago, a Snuneymuxw winter village and burial site existed next to a convenience store located at the intersection of Bay Street and Departure Bay Road. Northward, past Departure Creek, are the water break remains from the wharf used for coal ship loading by the northern Wellington Colliery (coal works near Wellington). If you have a small watercraft that allows for landing, you may want to stretch your legs with a walk along the thin sandy beach and/or seawall promenade from the store southward to Kinsmen Park.

The area was named Departure Harbour by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1852 and a few years later, maps showed the name as Departure Bay. By 1861, the first European settlers had arrived here and coal began shipping out of this area shortly afterwards. The first route was by rail to the aforementioned wharf and ’s first phone line also ran from the mines to the wharf. A second pier, close to the present day ferry terminal (#8), was constructed by the Vancouver Coal company to transport coals from its mines near downtown Nanaimo.

In order to manufacture and supply explosives to the mining companies, the Hamilton Powder Company built a factory here in 1892. In 1903, a dozen workers died in an explosion of black powder and dynamite that destroyed a pair of warehouses.

Brochure advertizing the advantages of the Black Ball Line over CPR rail ferries

8. Ferry Terminal: Exercise extreme caution in this area due to departing and arriving ferries and seaplanes. As early as 1930, steamships were modified to carry cars as well as foot passengers from downtown Vancouver to Nanaimo Harbour. Here, by 1955, the Black Ball Line ran ferries between Departure Bay and Horseshoe Bay near Vancouver. At the end of 1961, BC Ferries acquired the Black Ball Line and took over their cross Georgia Strait service to the present day. The 57 kilometre ferry route became part of the Trans-Canada Highway #1, opening in 1962.

The Brechin Mine operated on this spot from 1940 to 1950. It excavated a slope down on an angle under Newcastle Island to access two seams of coal mentioned at the next stop (#9). Brechin Boat Ramp is nearby (500 metres southeast of parking) and provides a good launching alternative for access to or egress from this route in mid-tour. Unless you are short-cutting via Newcastle Passage past Marina Row (#13), continue across to Shaft Point on Newcastle Island.

Coal mining on Newcastle Island

9. Coal mining on Newcastle Island: In 1849, Chief Che-wech-i-kan (later nicknamed Coal Tyee) saw a blacksmith in Fort Camosack (now capital Victoria) heating his forge with coal from Fort Rupert (now Port Hardy). Chief Che-wech-i-kan shared his familiarity of “black stone” places and brought a canoe full of coal when he visited a year later. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) sent agent Joseph McKay to prospect coal mining at Colviletown (renamed Nanaimo) in 1852.

The contribution of indigenous people to Nanaimo’s growth and prosperity was exceptional. Beyond selflessly sharing the location of this natural resource, the Snuneymuxw people labored in the mines, loaded coal on docked ships, and maintained an ongoing, friendly, and important relationship with the HBC and the coal industries that followed. Without their hard work, Nanaimo would not have been built on coal, nor become the success it is today.

As early as 1852, the Newcastle Pit started to strip mine the surface here. They produced sufficiently large quantities (several tons in one day). Once the surface coal was gone, they sank an underground shaft and became the Newcastle Mine (1852-1856) and produced over a hundred tons of coal on one particular day! The Fitzwilliam Mine (1863-1883) followed and their tunnels eventually ran 3 Km under Nanaimo Harbour and Protection Island following the Newcastle and Douglas Seams of coal. This was also the site of two of Nanaimo’s initial mine fatalities. In 1874, one worker died from a tunnel collapse, while three others died in the firedamp (methane gas) explosion of 1876. Decades later, the Brechin Mine (#8) operated during World War II to supply military coal by mining under this island and surrounding waters.

Nearby, just a short distance south along the Newcastle Passage and opposite the Marina Row (#13), the remains of a sandstone quarry can be found inland. Sandstone on Newcastle Island was high quality and was quarried (1869-1932) for construction of the US Mint in San Francisco, the British Columbia Penitentiary, and several other structures in Nanaimo, Victoria and Vancouver. While transporting sandstone columns to San Francisco, the Zephyr shipwrecked off Mayne Island. A memorial, with one of the recovered pillars, can be found on near the quarry.

Look out for “Old Man and Old Woman” rocks near Nares Point, while rounding the northern tip of Newcastle Island on the way to Kanaka Bay (#10).

Hanging of Peter Kakua NOT ACCURATE!

10. Kanaka Bay: This sandy beach makes a nice resting spot to stretch your legs and listen for axe murdering ghosts said to haunt the area. Peter Kakua was a Kanaka (Hawaiian labourer for the Hudson Bay Company). In 1868, he was tried and found guilty of murdering his spouse and her family with an axe while in a drunken rage. “Hung by the neck until dead,” he was buried in an unmarked grave near Kanaka Bay, because no cemeteries or burial sites would accept his body.

The capped mine shaft near Kanaka Bay

11. Another Coal Mine: Around the turn of the century, when coal mining was ending on the island in favour of better access mines in Nanaimo, a short lived coal mine was attempted at the back of Kanaka Bay. By the end of 1898, they had reached the Newcastle Seam (two metres thick at about a hundred metres underground) and then the Douglas Seam (just over a metre thick and another twenty metres deep). However, this mine was quickly abandoned in 1900, when easier and less costly access to both coal seams was afforded by the many mines in Nanaimo. The shaft remained until 1938 as fresh air ventilation for the back end of the underwater tunnels.

Quarrying of pulpstones on Newcastle Island

12. Newcastle Island Provincial Park: If you have the time, overnight here at the campground and explore the island trails. Aside from the two coal mines, the island has an interesting history. The Snuneymuxw people lived here seasonally. In the winter, they caught spawning herring, before moving on to for foraging and hunting in the spring and summer. Fall was spent salmon harvesting on the Fraser River and other island watercourses. The herring were so plentiful in Nanaimo Harbour, that salt packing operations were popular on the island after 1900. Run by Japanese owners, the salted Herring were exported to Japan and China.

The Pulpstone Quarry, beside the park headquarters, shaped and removed unique sandstone that was used in pulp mills to grind up waste wood and manufacture paper. In 1932, the pulpstone extraction was moved to Gabriola Island, until industrial grinders made from artificial stone were introduced. In 1931, the Canadian Pacific Railway opened a resort on the island to cater to passengers on their British Columbia Coast Steamship Service from the mainland. They built a bathhouse and pavilion with soda fountain and spring-loaded dance floor. A retired steamship, and later car ferry, called the Charmer, was converted into a floating hotel moored in Mark Bay. Operations ceased in 1941, when all steamships were called into wartime service.

By 1955, the financially failing resort was sold to the City of Nanaimo. In turn, unable to maintain the facilities and picnic grounds, the city sold the island to the provincial government in 1960 and the present day marine park was created in perpetuity.

Nanaimo Sailing Club members in 1920

13. Marina Row: This collection of a dozen marinas on the west side of Newcastle Passage (water channel between the island and Nanaimo) provides a scenic detour or short cut from Departure Bay to Nanaimo’s Inner Harbour. The Nanaimo Yacht Club Sailing School is found at the south end of the Row/Passage. An alternative boat launch called Brechin Ramp can be found at the north end. The ramp provides a middle of the tour starting point, especially useful for kayakers walking over from the nearby ferry terminal. Paddlewheeler Maude, first ferry to Vancouver, with the Bastion and first church behind in 1872

14. Inner Harbour: Just prior to Expo 86, British royalty Prince Charles and Princess Diana, officially designated Nanaimo as the “Harbour City” due to its history centred on and around the Inner Harbor. In its heyday, this waterway was known for ship building from 1859 and the transport of coal from mines centered in the city and more successful than those on Newcastle Island.

The British claimed Vancouver Island in 1778, when James Cook landed at Nootka Island on the west coast. However, the Spanish were the first European explorers to sail into this harbour around 1791. They mapped Nanaimo Harbour and its surrounding islands, hence the current abundance of Spanish place names. This harbour was originally called Bocas de Winthuysen (named for a general in the Spanish navy). After a bitter rivalry, the British eventually settled into Nanaimo as the Hudson’s Bay Company began mining. The British initially called this area Colviletown, after Andrew Colvile, a former governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. They later changed the name to Nanaimo as an accidental mispronunciation and approximation of the indigenous Snuneymuxw, meaning “a great people.” Watch for passenger ferries, aqua-taxis, pleasure boaters, seaplanes and other traffic as you pass through this extremely busy port.

The Bastion above the Inner Harbour

15. Historic city buildings: From the water, a glance upward toward the city centre will offer a view several well known structures. In this order, you should catch glimpses of the Nanaimo Court House, Nanaimo Post Office, St. Paul’s Church, Great National Land Building, and the Bastion.

The Bastion was built in 1853 as a defensive fort in case of attack. Early settlers feared the indigenous people who lived all around them. It was only used once when a dispute arose between the Snuneymuxw and another indigenous group nearby, but this was quickly settled.

Map of Nanaimo city streets from 1891 (shoreline shape has changed due to land reclamation)

16. Nanaimo Streets: As you pass through the Inner Harbor, notice how the downtown city streets are laid out in a pattern that converges toward you. This spoke-like design ensured that a glance downhill would always see the water and identify the arrival of new ships in the harbour. This “wagon wheel” metaphor led to Nanaimo’s nickname as the “Hub City!”

The Princess of Nanaimo at the old CPR terminal with Gabriola Island and Jack Point in the background

17. Old CPR Ferries: As you leave the harbor, you will pass Cameron Island (now attached to the shore by reclaimed land) with its tall circular condominium tower. This was the site of some CPR ferry services, other sites follow as you progress along the coast. From 1949, the CPR operated a passenger ferry to downtown Vancouver. Added in 1951, the Princess of Nanaimo carried cars, but required side-loading of traffic, which was very slow and awkward. The Black Ball Line began operating in Departure Bay (#8) around 1955 and offered direct “roll-on/roll-off” loading, which was extremely fast and convenient. Black Ball Line was able to make twice as many daily crossing than the CPR with half the fleet! The CPR car and passenger ferries ended from this competition and after a union strike brought about the creation of government-owned ferries.

After passing the Gabriola Island Ferry Terminal (watch out for ferry traffic), you will notice the aging Canadian Pacific Rail Yards and Train Ferry Terminal with its rising ramp. From 1912 until 1981, a train ferry transporting carriages and containers travelled between here and Vancouver Harbour. Early ferries were simply barges pushed or towed by tugs. Later ferries on this route, like the Princess of Vancouver, were specially designed with tracks for rail carriage “roll-on/roll- off.” From 2006 until 2014, occasional rail traffic again went from here to Annacis Island near New Westminster via Seaspan train ferry. Today, this area is being rejuvenated as the Nanaimo Cruise Ship Terminal, welcoming cruise ship passengers and helicopter commuters.

Just past the railyard, the Number One coal mine (1884-1938) was located at the foot of Milton Street. As the most productive and lucrative in Nanaimo, this mine added many shafts and tunnels, some reaching under the Inner Harbour to the outer islands. Underground workers told tales of hearing ship engines passing above them. This maze of shafts and tunnels meant poor ventilation leading to the buildup of methane gas and coal dust that caused one of Canada’s worst mining disasters. In 1887, an explosion ripped through the mine, collapsing and flooding some tunnels. While a coal fueled fire raged above ground for 24 hours, 150 workers lost their lives underground. Only seven miners survived the explosion!

Consider the weather and tides before continuing with this tour. Do not cross to Jack and Duke Points (#18), Gabriola Island (#19), Snake Island (#23), Five Finger Island (#24), or Neck Point (#25) in less than ideal conditions. Alternatively, reverse your route back to the start.

Sandstone quarry at Jack Point cliffs with three workers at the base of the “stiff leg derrick” pole

18. Jack and Duke Points: Named for a local farmer, Jack Point was once an island adjacent to Duke Point, but is now part of the Duke Point peninsula due to land fill being added to connect the island to Duke Point during development of the ferry terminal and nearby sawmill. The area has interesting sandstone cliffs, with evidence of quarrying, and scattered small beaches making for a good rest spot before continuing across Northumberland Channel toward Gabriola Island.

Immediately after rounding Jack Point, watch for ferries between Duke Point and Tsawassen. Look down the channel to see the cliffs on Gabriola Island leading to Brickyard Beach. The brickyard factory was the island’s largest employer from 1911 to 1952. To make brick, shale was crushed into clay, slurried with water, pressed into blocks or tiles, dried, and then fired in kilns fueled by Nanaimo’s coal (coal was not available on Gabriola Island). These bricks were used in numerous buildings and road surfaces in Nanaimo, Victoria, Vancouver, and New Westminster.

Four workers and their dog moving bricks by handcarts at the brickyards on Gabriola Island

19. Gabriola Island: In addition to its famous brickyards, the island has an interesting history (check out their museum http://gabriolamuseum.org/ and historical society http://gabriolahistory.ca/ for an abundance of additional information). The Snuneymuxw people established seasonal and permanent villages on the island. Their presence is well recorded in a number of petroglyph (rock carvings), some near the museum. The island was named “Gaviota,” Spanish for seagull, by early explorers who first mapped this region. Initial settlers were European, but many took Snuneymuxw spouses. Together they fished, harvested clams and oysters, farmed vegetables and livestock, quarried sandstone, forested timber, and worked in the shipyards and sawmills.

Cross the wide mouth of Descanso Bay (watch out for ferry traffic) to reach the park beach on the far side. A sandstone quarry was located near Descanso Bay.

The Atrevida passenger ferry coming into Descano Bay, c. 1931

20. Descanso Bay Regional Park: Descanso is Spanish for rest and this is a great place to take a break on the beach, stretch the legs on hiking trails, or camp overnight in the campground.

Tourists at “the sandstone wave”

21. Malaspina Galleries: Erosive forces have carved a giant sandstone wave frozen in time at the tip of Malaspina Point. Both of these were named for Alejandro Malaspina, an Italian navigator who mapped this region for the Spanish in the 1790s. The caves have also been known as the Galiano Gallery, named after Dionisio Alcala Galiano (also the namesake of ).

Before becoming a tourist attraction near Nanaimo, the overhung caves were used as a burial site for indigenous workers in Nanaimo other than the Snuneymuxw. The latter buried their dead on elevated platforms or suspended from trees, in order to be closer to their deities. Other indigenous workers had no sacred grounds for burial and so chose this cave instead.

For more than a century, settlers and visitors have enjoyed picnicking, diving, swimming, taking photographs, and leaving graffiti at the wave. Regarding the latter, do not paint over or carve into the rock surfaces. This overhang continues to erode; please do not accelerate the process.

How did these formations come to be? They were not shaped by erosive forces from waves or wind. Instead, they were created from a hardened layer above and a softened layer below. The surface layer was hardened due to oxidation from exposure to the air and rain: much like rust on iron. In fact, the presence of iron helped cement the sand particles more firmly in this hardened surface layer. The softer lower layers did not oxidize, but did soak up seawater and salt from the ocean. As the moisture sun dried, it left salt deposits behind and salt is known to breakdown the clay particles that hold the sand grain together to make sandstone. In this way, the softer layer crumbled, while the harder layer remained and a sandstone wave resulted.

The beach at Taylor Bay

22. Gabriola Sands Provincial Park: Two sandy beaches (this side on Taylor Bay and the other side on Pilot Bay) have pit toilets, picnic areas, but no drinking water. During the next leg on the way to Snake Island, watch for ferries and other cross traffic between Duke Point and Tsawassen.

Harbour Seal

23. Snake Island: This is a long thin sandstone ridge with two smaller parallel ridges joined by gravel beaches. No snakes have been observed here and the name is thought to be the result of the islands shape and/or local legend that tells of a past Garter Snake infestation. The main island is a sanctuary for nesting seabirds, while the low parallel ridges can be covered in Harbour Seals. Please observe from a distance, do not land (unless an emergency), and attempt to avoid frightening the island inhabitants. On a good day, the waters can be full of divers and snorkelers, so look out for swimmers nearby. During the next leg on the way to Five Finger island, watch for ferries and other cross traffic between Departure Bay and Horseshoe Bay.

Pelagic Cormorant

24. Five Finger Island: This is a C-shaped lump of pillow basalt. Seals may be observed on the rocks at sea level. The name of this place may have come from it looking like the palm of a hand with the five islands of nearby Hudson Rocks looking like finger tips. Together they might appear like a partial hand print. Please stay entirely out of Hudson Rocks Ecological Reserve zone. This zone has been established to protect nesting birds such as the Pelagic Cormorant. Pelagic means “open sea” and these birds range widely from Alaska, USA to Baja, Mexico. They swim underwater to catch fish and so have evolved small wings to make swimming easier. As a result, these small wings make flying very difficult high energy requirements, so they must feed often.

Aerial photo of Neck Point (boathouse and view deck are indicated by the yellow arrow)

25. Neck Point: Louis Page (Page’s Lagoon was originally named for him) lived on what was called Page’s Point. This was a popular tourist destination for Nanaimo locals and several cabins were built here in the 1930’s. Looking much like those on Shack Island (#2), these were removed to establish the present day park with beaches, trails, and viewpoints. The remnants of a stone boathouse and view deck can be seen on approach. Return to nearby Charlaine Boat Ramp (#1).

The Snuneymuxw Coast Salish people fished and collected other food resources from spring to summer in the vicinity of Hammond Bay and Neck Point Park. The area was an important herring site and also rich in salmon, ling cod, and rock fish. Abundant clams, crabs, and oysters were harvested on area beaches and prawns were often fished off Horswell Channel. Neck Point is said to have been an important lookout site for the Snunyemuxw during times of warfare. From the point, large oceangoing canoes approaching from the north could be seen many miles out from shore. A young man was posted on the point, and would run back to warn villagers at Departure Bay. Taylor Beach and Jack Point were also important lookout sites. There is a large rock in the vicinity of Hammond Bay that, according to Snuneymuxw legend, has the ability to control the weather. The name for the man or location is Culuxw, meaning ‘straight, high bluff’ (The rock is the face of a man that was transformed to rock by Haals). As the story goes, if one puts water into one of Culuxw’s eyes, the wind will blow towards the north. If water is put into the other eye the wind will blow southward, ‘home’ to Departure Bay.