Prince Rupert 40

120.8 Acres (48.9 Hectares)

103 H

SOLD

District Lot 1769, Coast Range 5, Land District 14.

This natural and unspoiled property includes a long sandy/gravel beach that stretches along its approximately 1,360 ft. (414.53 metres) of Pacific Ocean frontage. There are also several small lakes and creeks flowing through the property and draining west into the ocean. This property is flat and level by the water, and rises slightly and continuously to the east boundary. The beach is sandy with some gravely areas and there is a large level bench in old growth forest overlooking this beach. Towards the middle and east end there are some wet areas. The property is one of a kind – very private, surrounded by crown land with the nearest deeded land being 1.2 miles (2 kms.) to the north. This area is truly a beautiful, unspoiled paradise – as far as you can see north and south are magnificent sandy/gravely beaches, miles of old growth forest and natural wilderness. There are a fairly large number of recreational homes and cabins on the northwest side of Porcher.

This property is located 34 miles (54 kilometres) south of Prince Rupert on the southwest coast of Porcher Island. Prince Rupert is 496 air miles (798 kilometres) north of Vancouver.

Porcher Island is approximately 20 miles (32 kilometres) long by 20 miles wide, and is separated from the mainland by Telegraph Passage, approximately 6 miles (9.65 kilometres) in width, near the north of Porcher Island, and approximately 3 miles (4.8 kilometres) near the southern part by Ogden Channel.

By boat: Sail southwest from Prince Rupert past Goble Point, through Edye Passage, around the west side of Porcher to the property. For good moorage, anchor in Kitkatla Inlet and come onto the property by foot from the east side.

By plane: The property is about 25 minutes southwest of Prince Rupert and can be accessed by landing a float plane in Kitkatla Inlet and walking west, onto the property. There is also a small coastal community called Kitkatla approx. 20 miles southeast which has daily float plane flights to and from Prince Rupert.

Fishermen come from near and far to fish in this area. There is an excellent salmon fishing spot about 6 miles south of the property, known as Freeman Pass. Nearby Goble Point and Edye Passis referred to by local fishermen as “Money Point” due to the fantastic fishing for Pacific salmon and huge halibut, in its surrounding waters. Chinook salmon, up to 80 lbs., is not uncommon. Useless Bay contains a beautiful small white sandy-beached cove that has lots of dungeness crabs, clams and shellfish. In addition, the surrounding beaches have clams and mussels.

This region also supports blacktail deer, martin, ducks, geese and eagles.

Oona River, a fishing village on Porcher Island, has charter boats available for both day and overnight trips. The area is popular as a base for eco-tourism, kayaking, scuba diving, and boating accessing miles of unpopulated sandy beaches.

Porcher Island is a large coastal island approximately 16 miles (25 kilometres) south of Prince Rupert and 3 miles (5 kms) from the mainland. The shores of this island are generally flat with good beaches, while the interior of the island has several hills and Egeria Mountain is the tallest reaching to 2,915 feet. There are three small communities on the island – Hunts Inlet, Oona River (the largest) and the village of Porcher Island, and these settlements are mainly dependent on the fishing industry. Besides the three communities, there are a number of year-round residences and some seasonal residences throughout this island.

Prince Rupert is a city with a population of 15,000 people making it the largest community on the northwest coast. It is an important service centre for fish processing plants, as well as a significant rail terminus, shipping harbour and home to a large fishing fleet. Prince Rupert is also a major port for the loading of export logs destined for overseas markets. B.C. Ferries sails the Inside Passage year-round, between Prince Rupert and Port Hardy and also from Prince Rupert to Skidegate on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Tourism is a major business in Prince Rupert with over a quarter of a million visitors passing through each year. Deluxe, explorer-class cruise ships base their summer operations in Prince Rupert and visitors congregate here to begin exotic wilderness cruises in enchanting northern passages to Alaska or the Queen Charlotte Islands. Transportation facilities are comprehensive – several freight lines service all continental locations; Greyhound Bus Lines offer regional, provincial and national service, CNR and Via Rail offer rail service, there are two airports, marine highways, tug services and rail barge services.

The Queen Charlotte Islands to the west of Porcher, often called the “Canadian Galapagos”, face Japan across the vast Pacific Ocean. There are many out-of-the-ordinary natural attractions on these islands – bald eagles, seabirds, blacktail deer and seals – and one of the world’s finest collections of native Indian argillite totem poles at the Skidegate Museum.

Porcher Island was named after Commander E.A. Porcher, who was on this coast in 1865-68 commanding H.M.S. Sparrowhawk. When the development of the port city of Prince Rupert was announced, people came from all over the continent to settle; but not all of them lived in the city itself and by 1907 there were dozens of homesteaders on the islands off the mouth of the Skeena River. Small communities sprang up, many of them on Porcher Island. Porcher was first settled by mostly Swedish and Norwegian pioneers who grew bountiful crops of fruit and vegetables and raised sheep, due to the island’s temperate climate. Humpback Bay is the site of the abandoned Porcher Island Cannery, erected in 1929; however, it was not an auspicious year to begin a cannery, being the beginning of the Great Depression. Four years later the plant was taken over by the Canadian Fishing Company but used only as a fishing station, that is, a supply depot for local fishermen to buy and sell fish and store their nets. Today the site is privately owned, and some of the cannery buildings still stand.

The majority of the property consists of mixed open meadows and small pine stands. There is a wide strip of old growth forest consisting of large spruce, cedar and hemlock on a flat level bench along the beach.

$181.20 (2010)

No Zoning

The boundaries were surveyed by N.F. Townsend, British Columbia Land Surveyor, August 1908.

08/11/2010