Tag Archives: Marine Tourism

Community, Indigenous Nations

First Nations Fishermen Rescues Kayaker Off Rebecca Spit

National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Lucas Chickite almost didn’t hear it. The Quadra Island fisherman was standing on the bow of the Armada, a vessel working a scallop farm off the east shore of Rebecca Spit, on Thursday at around 6 p.m., when he heard a faint sound over the noise of the engine and hydraulics. The west wind had come up to 20 knots in the afternoon and the water was showing whitecaps. He strained his ears again and looked around, but didn’t see any other boats. He was about to start working, when he heard it again.

“It definitely sounded like someone cried, Help,’” said Chickite. “I starting scanning the horizon and I saw a white hand flash out of the water.”

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Tourism

The Misty Isles New Owners

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Many of you are probably aware that Cortes Island’s best known schooner has changed hands. After twenty-one years of showing tourists around our area, Mike Moore and Samantha Statton are retiring. I recently met with the Misty Isles new owners, Amy Bockner and Jonas Fineman, outside the Co-op in Mansons Landing. 

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Environment, Indigenous Nations History

New Threat To Desolation Sound

In the summer of 2016, a subsidiary of one of the world’s leading aggregate companies announced it was about to commence exploratory surface drilling in the Lloyd Creek Area of Desolation Sound. This is in close proximity to the region’s foremost kayak and boating area and, consequently, brings a substantial income to local businesses. Had the venture gone forward, one of the regions few remaining old growth forests would have been cut down, an important fish bearing creek would have been devastated and a number of important indigenous sites would have been threatened. Lehigh Hanson Materials abandoned its application, but local author Judith Williams talks about a new threat to Desolation Sound.

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Waste

Mathilde Gordon’s 2,042 Kilometre Kayak Adventure

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By Roy L Hales

They paddled almost every day, sometimes more than fifty kilometres a day. The two women were at sea for three months. They started in the icy waters of Glacier Bay, Alaska, meticulously tabulating the impact of single use plastic everywhere they camped. I heard the story of Mathilde Gordon’s 2,042 kilometre kayak adventure during her recent visit to Cortes Island. 

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Animals, Environment, History

How People’s Attitudes Towards Nature Changed

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What was life like in the era before cell phones, computers and televisions. Did British Columbians feel closer to nature when they worked outside in the elements rather than within the artificial confines of a building? In this mornings program I ask Mike Manson, a descendant of one of Cortes Island’s oldest European families, and Mike Moore, one of our better known eco-tour guides, how public attitudes towards nature changed since the first settlers arrived.

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