Tag Archives: Doug Morton

Indigenous Nations, Tourism

Gorge Harbour Marina Renovations Completed

The renovations at Gorge Harbour Marina are finished. This has been much more than a facelift. It includes a new water system, upgraded septic and electric systems, yet the face of the resort has also been dramatically improved. The RV sites, campsites, much of the grounds and internal layout of the lodge have all been redesigned. Six new visitor domes, 2 cooking stations, a new massage hut, a new bridge across the creek and a food truck have been added.  

There is one big decision remaining. Will QXMC, the business arm of the Klahoose First Nation, build a restaurant to take the place of the former Floathouse restaurant? General Manager Marco Bedetti says a decision is imminent and, for now, the food truck serves the resort’s needs.

The last three months at the resort have been a success story, which Bedetti insists starts at the board level.

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History, Rivers & Oceans

When fishing was an industry in Whaletown

A great many fisherfolk once worked out of Whaletown. The Cortes Island Museum’s list goes back to the 1930s, at which point there were 7 men and a woman. Three of them used rowboats. 

“There used to be a huge fleet rafted out, both six and seven abreast all along  both sides of the dock, in Whaletown.  In the last 10 years or so, there’s only been three or four boats in there, fishing. The main one  that I know of in the last little while is the ‘C-Fin,’ but he goes outside of the Vancouver Island area and fishes tuna. When he comes back he doesn’t sell it to a fisheries, he sells it from the dock, and the same with his prawns.  So he’s not using a middle man to sell his products, which I suppose is one of the few ways you could make a little bit of money now,“ said Lynne Jordan, former President of the Cortes Island Museum, in the latest instalment of her history of Whaletown.

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