DESTINATIONS
Story and Photos by Chuck Gould
Schooner Cove
 I often shun resorts. Many resorts are wonderful facilities, with first-class service and unique amenities, but certain high-tone establishments tend to attract and encourage a group of people sometimes overly concerned with posture, wardrobe, and speaking with an affected emphasis on certain vowels. (Gag me.) The mere use of the word “resort” in the name of an establishment can cause me to react with guarded skepticism until first-hand experience confirms or disproves my admitted prejudice.
 We had never visited the resort at Schooner Cove, near the mouth of Nanoose Harbour. There hasn’t been a compelling reason to put into Schooner Cove, less than an hour’s trawl from our typical overnight in Nanaimo. If the weather in the Strait of Georgia has been good enough to justify setting out at all, we have always hoped to complete a longer leg of our itinerary under those favourable conditions. Each year on our longer cruises we make an effort to mix new discoveries with old favourites, and in 2005 we agreed to include a visit to Schooner Cove Marina at Fairwinds Schooner Cove Resort (the “r” word notwithstanding).
We arrived at Schooner Cove on a very low tide and were able to observe that there really isn’t an islet at the mouth of the marina. What appears to be an isolated mound at high water is an extension of a spit on the northwest side of the marina entrance. At low water the connection and the proper entrance are apparent, but a vessel arriving from the northwest at a high tide might experience serious distress looking for a “shortcut” between the faux islet and the apparent headlands 100 metres away. Once inside the breakwater, a red buoy marks the location of a treacherous rock, but there is more than adequate room to maneuver between the buoy and the floats. We called for a slip assignment from just outside the breakwater and were impressed that our radio call was answered promptly and professionally.
A 15-20 knot northwest wind was blowing into the marina, and would be setting us off the dock in our assigned slip. Not to worry. Without even being asked, Schooner Cove had a skilled line handler waiting to assist us—a savvy “old salt” rather than a kid on summer vacation. During our stay at Schooner Cove, we noticed that line handlers were dispatched for all arriving vessels, regardless of wind conditions (or the skipper’s infamous reputation for boat handling). The dockman made us feel genuinely welcomed to Schooner Cove. “Drop up to the office whenever it’s convenient and register, please,” he said, and his tone inspired a faint hope that a relaxed, casual, and fun time might be in store (the “r” word notwithstanding).
As we walked up to the marina office, I noticed that nearly all the boats at Schooner Cove had Canadian registration numbers. Much of the marina is filled during the winter months with permanent moorage, and the vacant slips are used for guest moorage when permanent tenants are off on summer cruises. US boats often comprise a perceived majority during the summer months at the guest docks in Nanaimo, but most of the steady stream of visiting boats arriving at the modern and immaculate floats of Schooner Cove appeared to be Canadian, rather than US vessels. It was also apparent that Schooner Cove is a family-oriented facility. Groups of excited kids were catching pile perch off the docks. A rack at the base of the gangway was stocked with a supply of loaner lifejackets in a variety of children’s sizes, next to a sign requesting parents ensure that any kids playing on the docks wear PFDs. A fuel dock offers both gasoline and diesel, and an adjacent enterprise rents kayaks and small sailboats for day use in and around the marina. Planter boxes with colourful summer flowers lend a fragrant sense of festivity to the relaxed and happy atmosphere on the docks.
The Schooner Cove harbourmaster’s office stocks a surprising variety of boating supplies, certainly enough to replace or replenish the most commonly required or expired. Across a walkway at the base of the steps to the harbourmaster’s office is the Dockside Café, with beverages, snacks, cold beer and wine, and a basic inventory of groceries. We discovered hot coffee and fresh pastries were offered at realistic prices.
 A hotel occupies most of the large building adjacent to the harbour, and marina guests have complimentary access to an exercise room, a swimming pool, and a hot tub. The Fairwinds community includes a nearby golf course, as well as several hundred developed and available home sites situated to take full advantage of the easy golf course and marina access. Golfing boaters are invited to reserve tee times.
A series of old newspaper clippings displayed in the hotel lobby details the general history of the area. Schooner Cove Marina and the Fairwinds Community & Resort are located on Nanoose Head, on property that was formerly used for a number of industrial purposes. The Giant Powder Company built a factory here in 1911, and Nanoose Head was temporarily known as “Powder Point.” Explosives and fuses were produced by a crew of about 100 workmen and sold into a thriving market consisting of loggers and farmers, as well as Allied armament manufacturers during the First World War. On the first day of January 1918, a storehouse filled with nitroglycerine blew up and leveled most of the factory. Due perhaps to light holiday staffing, the blast resulted in “only” two deaths, but the explosion was reported to be easily heard as far away as Vancouver. While there are doubtlessly small bits of the powder plant scattered over a wide area, we learned about another enterprise that once thrived on Nanoose Head and promised to be easier to find. We set off on an easy hike to “Brickyard Cove.”
We walked along Dolphin Drive, passing through an area of waterfront, water view, and golf course homes. People seem to be coming and going in great numbers, with a flurry of new construction underway. We noticed perhaps one in eight existing homes sporting “for sale” signs, as well as an encouraging number of signs freshly amended to “sold.” If there is a real estate boom in the Fairwinds Community, it’s likely due to the exceptional opportunities we noticed for second home or retirement living. Some of the homes along the road are older and humbler, apparently erected decades ago. Many of the more contemporary golf course homes and newer water view buildings are thousands of square feet, with a full complement of modern luxuries and are offered at prices consistent with upscale housing in other desirable communities.
The five acres at Brickyard Cove proved to be worth the hike. Deep red-brown brick rubble protrudes from park trails, with formerly sharp edges worn smooth during a long human lifetime of footfall and weathering since the heyday of the kilns. Clay for the bricks was dug out of quarries now forming the lakes and fairways of the nearby Fairwinds Golf Course, and the same barges that delivered coal to fire the furnaces would haul the finished bricks to market. Trees grow atop a large mound in the middle of the park, and where the soil has fallen away one can see that the exposed roots have snaked through piles of discarded clinkers in search of good soil and water below. In some cases where the trees appear to predate 1911, someone has apparently used scrap bricks to shore up the eroding mound around the erupting roots. As the years go by, the trees permanently ensnarl and entangle greater numbers of their supports.
A shallow lagoon at Brickyard Cove traps enough heat in the rocks at low tide to provide pleasant temperatures for summer swimming at high water. Local families dove and splashed in the warm water, while a few teens and 20-somethings sprawled on the warm rocks (exposing skin to the limits of “decency”) in an attempt to trap an elusive northwest suntan.
We sauntered back to the marina, passing a house where three deer rested as unperturbed as house cats in the front yard. Deer must be plentiful in the area, as many homes have netting surrounding roses, apples, and other well-known deer attractants. The domesticated, browsing deer may well prove to be enough of a nuisance to elicit mixed emotions among the local residents, as one “deer crossing” sign had been adorned with a handwritten series of Ks below the official lettering.
 We returned to Schooner Cove Marina just in time to order dinner at the Laughing Gull Pub. Give the pub a good solid 7.5 for well-above-average food and an 8 for friendly and efficient service. An unused doorway at the main entrance to the resort hotel implies that there may once have been a more formal restaurant here, and the absence of a more deluxe eatery seems unusual in a resort community. (There may be a more formal restaurant associated with the golf course.) During our dinner at the Laughing Gull, we decided that there were additional trails and sites we would like to explore (we had heard rumours of beaver dams and wilderness lakes nearby). We reached a surprisingly spontaneous mutual decision to stay a second night at Schooner Cove (the “r” word notwithstanding).
We were surprised we encountered so few locals taking advantage of this incredible resource within a short walk of their homes.
On our second day at Schooner Cove, we followed a map detailing a series of trails in the forested uplands behind the marina, the golf course, and the luxury homes. What a treat! We could have been a 50-kilometre hike rather than a 50-minute walk from civilization. The larger trails were once logging roads, while some of the smaller branches are just wide enough to walk between bordering underbrush. We did indeed discover pristinely deep, dark alpine lakes, dramatic rocky outcrops, beaver lodges, and a bright carnival of wildflowers blossoming in every glade and clearing. The upland hike is suitable for anyone in average or better physical condition, and we were surprised that we encountered so few locals taking advantage of this incredible resource within a short and easy walk of their homes.
We can recommend Schooner Cove Resort and Marina (the “r” word notwithstanding). For many boaters, Schooner Cove might represent a viable option to Nanaimo when plotting a course across the Strait of Georgia or while waiting for a weather window. We so enjoyed our stay that we allotted an extra day to enjoy it more fully, and we’ll look forward to future visits here. Only one of my expectations was notably unfulfilled; I wasn’t able to marvel at even a single individual attempting to impress us mere mortals with a $5,000 wristwatch, an aloof posture, or a phony, egalitarian accent. Hurray for that!  |