Ghosts of Yorke Island
It was still early afternoon, and conditions were in our favour, so we began to look for anchorages farther on. There are not so many protected anchorages along that stretch of the strait: Blenkinsop Bay, Tuna Point, and one or two off Helmken Island, not to mention the docks at Kelsey Bay, all covered in our guide to the Broughton Archipelago, but we hoped to find somewhere we had never been.
Searching our charts, I spotted an opportunity off the western tip of Hardwick Island, at the confluence of Johnstone Strait and Sunderland Channel.
It was Yorke Island, an historic former World War Two military base, established to spot foreign invaders and to warn those defending the waters of Georgia Strait to the southeast. We had heard and read about it, but either bad weather or bad timing caused us to pass it by on our many trips up and down the strait, turning it into one of those “maybe next time” destinations.
Now, though, the day and overnight forecasts were benign, a perfect chance to explore, so we headed for the island anchorage.
Ghosting past the tiny Artillery Islets, a “Kodak moment” came into view, as the tall ship Pacific Swift was anchored in the narrow pass between Yorke and Hardwicke islands.
A tender was ferrying passengers to a small beach on Yorke Island, making several runs, packed with many youngsters, teens and excited chatter.
We anchored in the small bay off the beach, over a bottom that is a mix of weeds and rock. It took a bit of persistence to find a good set, made more complicated by the fresh current, but soon we did. With the Pacific Swift nearby, and a cruise ship steaming past down Johnstone Strait, the views in every direction were gorgeous. If the anchorage is full or overcome by weather, Nichols Bay, on Hardwicke Island to the southeast, offers excellent protection for one vessel, possibly two.
And soon were piling into our dinghy to follow the Pacific Swift’s crew to shore. We pulled Nitnoy easily up the sand and ashore there was a surprise. A wide, mossy green path took us easily uphill past a BC Parks information sign and to the site of the wartime outpost, with artillery emplacement, munitions bunkers and various outbuildings.
Some 60 structures once stood here, along with powerful search lights, a canteen, officers quarters and guns that could fire 100-lb rounds at enemy ships entering Canadian waters from the north end of Vancouver Island. And all around are lovely views.
The base was well-positioned to guard cities to the south against naval incursions from either Johnstone Strait or Sunderland Channel. Its fleet of patrol vessels, typically fishing boats, came to be known as the “Gumboot Navy.”
But it was a lonely outpost, and the mostly young conscripts were sometimes driven to a state referred to wryly as “going yorkie”.
We spent a few hours admiring the remains of the old fort and the beautiful views, imagining what it must have been like stationed here keeping a watch for enemy ships so long ago. And seeing in your mind’s eye the young soldiers wandering the base, hoping to find some mischief to get into.
When we arrived at the anchorage, fish were jumping everywhere, begging to be caught. So, back on Silom, we rigged up and trolled around in the dinghy for an hour or so. Then, with nothing to show for it, we just floated around, admiring the view as the sun went down, and wondering how we could have for so long put off adding this anchorage to our cruising backstory.
We had a peaceful sleep swinging in the current as fog rolled in to create one of those striking morning landscapes. The Salish Sea never ceases to impress.
Keep safe.
