 On 30 Aug 2023, Greg and Marilyn Pyke from Graham, WA USA returned to Yorke Island and "did a bow watch at slack near the same location of S cove, NE of the Aritllery Islets, but closer to shore (200' distance with 30' depths)." I'll let Marilyn tell her story, "The water was very clear, with 6' boulders below, so we backed up and set in 50' with 3:1 rode. Greg did anchor watch again in the mixed current while Marilyn went ashore. This time she had found information on the Vancouver Gunner's in-depth website featuring photos of WW2 landmarks, biographies, diaries, and historical maps. Using them she oriented the west side of the island (discovering a concrete power plant and 3 searchlights) then upwards to the top fort gun emplacement area, then down along the north shoreline, to locate Sunderland Post; a 5-sided log cabin with moss chinking, sliding wood shutters, and hand hewn door handles. It was in extremely good shape . It looked like it had been partially restored using original wood. Found a few more buildings and metal artifacts in the woods. The trails (former roads) dated back to 1937- early 1940's, have filled in and looked like game trails, but no sign of bear scat or deer droppings. Traversed the western and northern half of the island in 5.5 hrs. So fun! Thank you to all the service members who constructed and manned this installation and volunteers who maintain this island and its many structures. A real treasure!" Greg and Marilyn Pyke only missed running into our Master Gunner's work crew by a couple of weeks. We're going to have to see if we can meet up with them on a future visit.
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