A Fishing Scow Left High and Dry
A local fishing expedition turns into a salvage nightmare after a grounding in the Gulf of Georgia.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Last Sunday, H. K. Levy loaded his fishing outfit at Point Roberts on a scow, which was taken in tow by the steamer Virginia, for Seattle. On the trip, the scow was towed onto a ledge of rocks just at Barnes' and Clark's Island, known as the Sisters, located east of the Gulf of Georgia. The tide was high when the barge struck, and when the tide ebbed, the whole outfit was left high and dry. Mr. Levy left the wreck in distress, claiming it as a total loss. Morgan & Mallett chartered the steamer Holyoke, and went to position the scow off the rocks, but whether she was taken off or not, we have been unable to learn.
“The tide was high when the barge struck, and when the tide ebbed, the whole outfit was left high and dry.”
Maritime navigation through the San Juan Islands and the Gulf of Georgia has always been a treacherous endeavor, even for modern vessels. This story captures the precarious nature of early regional commerce where a single navigational error on a tide-dependent reef could spell financial ruin for a small operator.
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