Russell Island

Russell Island

12 July

After a few days of stress and toil, acquiring parts, completing repairs and re-provisioning, we were joined by Alan’s sister, Gil at our new home port, Maple Bay Marina near Duncan BC. Gil will be  be our guest for the next 7 days.

Our plan is to circumnavigate Salt Spring Island, the largest Island in the Southern  Gulf Islands chain and explore some of the local highlights.

Night one, we anchored off the picturesque Russell Island, a small island just south of Salt Spring Island.

This is a popular anchorage with good holding. 

The park provides a dinghy dock, which allowed us to get some exercise as we enjoyed walking the trail around part of the island, ending up at the restored historic home.

The old Mahoi/Fischer homestead

Russell Island is now part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve and has an interesting history and Hawaiian connection, dating back to the late 1700’s and the Northwest Coast fur trade. When the Hawaiians (or Kanaka as they are known in their language) became involved in the maritime fur trade, sea otter pelts were being traded in Asia and at this time the Hawaiian Islands became a natural stopover between North America and Asia. The Kanaka became employees of the various fur trade companies, including the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Over time, small Hawaiian settlements began to form around HBC posts in both Canada and the United States. When the United States government began passing legislation which prevented the Kanaka people from becoming American citizens or owning land, many Kanaka people moved to Canada. By the 1870s, the Kanaka began settling in the Gulf Islands. 

Maria Mahoi had previously lived on Salt Spring Island with her first husband Captain Abel Douglas and their seven children. After being  identified in Haumea's will as the sole heir to Russell Island, Maria moved back to Russell Island in 1902 with her second husband George Fisher. George Fisher was the child of an English father and a Cowichan mother. The Mahoi/Fisher family expanded with six more children.

The Mahoi/Fisher family continued to build on the work begun by Haumea on Russell Island by maintaining the cleared land and adding to the orchard and strawberry field.

Russell Island remained in Kanaka hands until 1959 when it was sold to a local. It was later sold to the Pacific Marine Heritage Legacy in 1997. The island has subsequently become part of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve.

A beautiful sunset was enjoyed on the back deck of Kaos.