Yorke Island - Greg and Marilyn Pyke 2022
On 5 September 2022, Greg and Marilyn Pyke from Graham, Washington, USA, anchored along the South Cove of Yorke Island to check out a concrete structure we'd seen an old photo of in the nautical guide, "Exploring The South Coast of British Columbia" * by Don and Reanne Hemingway-Douglass; pg 357. Being relatively new to boating (bought their 47' trawler "Moonstruck" in 2020) we were returning from our second trip to South East Alaska. and had perfect weather so we took a chance on this * "temporary anchorage in fair weather off the South West tip of the island in the lee of the small spit and off-lyng rocks". Being fans of history, architecture, old forts, exploring, hiking, and kayaking, this was a chance to combine all those interests into one stop. We arrived at slack and carefully anchored, leaving Greg as anchor watch in the changing current. Marilyn kayaked over to the easy-to-spot ramp and quickly found the trail and the remnants of a large building. Wow, that was fast! Followed the path (old road) up the center of the island to the top where 7 more intact buildings were, including 2 gun emplacements. Having no information other than, "2 buildings halfway up the slope on the SW side of Yorke Island, are the remains of a wartime military establishment", this felt like a jackpot! Explored them as quickly as possible, being concerned for the changing tide and fast current back at the boat. Once back on board, was so excited to have seen such well preserved structures and determined that if we got the chance, we'd come back.