Fishing Islands Post Script

by Sandy Richardson

Once again we had fine weather and an excellent turn out for the Fishing Islands trip.

Despite the ideal conditions and eight pair of eyes searching, we were unable to locate the wreck of the Gold Hunter, a 114 foot long, 219 ton wooden schooner that was lost in a storm on October 14, 1890 carrying a cargo of cedar logs. The wreck was reported to lie in relatively shallow water northwest of Ghegheto Island (known locally as Round Island), but we couldn’t find it and eventually paddled on.

We did find a pair of Great Black-Backed Gulls among the many gulls nesting on one island. This large bird is locally rare.

Later in the summer, one of the trip participants, Sally Dobson, returned for a stay in a cottage in Howdenvale and, with the help of the owner of the cottages, was able to locate the shipwreck. It turned out to be quite a bit farther offshore than we had been searching. Sally and I subsequently paddled out, located the wreck and, using masks and snorkels, spent some time exploring and photographing the site. As the photos show, it is indeed an interesting site to explore.ghunter2.JPG ghunter1.JPG

Now that two of us know where the wreck of the Gold Hunter lies, we should be able to find it on next year’s trip. There is even a convenient shoal to pull kayaks out on in order to swim on the wreck.

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