(an excerpt from the writings of Bill Ashworth for the years 1914-1918)
To walk completely around the island on the beach at least once a year was a must for everyone. Starting counter-clockwise from the wharf the milestones were First Point, Second Point, Indian Point, Beacon Point, Whalebone Point, Garnet Point (where there was a big meteorite), Green’s Point and finally back to the cottage.
A better way, in the opinion of some, was to row around the island in Dr. J.L. Turnbull’s lapstrake Turner-built boat with two pairs of oars. With a crew of four boys, each boy would have to work only half the time. The other half could loll on the seats like a passenger. With six boys it was even better.
On one such memorable cruise there were six of us in the crew: Frank Turnbull, his brother Walter, Norman Robertson, Jim Spilsbury, Lex McKillop, and me.
The tide was high, the water calm and windless. Utter peace reigned in the woods along the shore. We got Norman Robertson, whose father was professor of Greek at U.B.C., to shout some sentences in classical Greek into the trees to see if the echo would respond in the same language. To our gratification it did. We boys thought it was a remarkably clever echo. The perfect feeling of tranquillity gave us a strange feeling as though we ourselves were back in ancient times among the isles of Greece, perhaps Argonauts seeking the Golden Fleece.
Editor's note: The Ashworth family built and operated the Royal Savary Hotel from 1927 to 1972
Published 2025
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