CELEBRATING 55 YEARS

Memories of boating in the Pacific Northwest, and a partnership with Pacific Yachting

By Martyn Clark

1968 - 2023

It was 55 years ago that I arrived in British Columbia to help my father build a log house on the shores of Bird’s Eye Cove (Maple Bay). My fiancée, Margaret, flew out from Toronto for a brief visit and we stopped at the Malahat lookout. With the panoramic view of the Gulf Islands spread out below, she declared, “this is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen!” We determined to return one day and after completing my degree at the University of Toronto followed by a leisurely one-year honeymoon to the West Indies in our schooner Ayesha, and a brief stint as a yacht broker and charter boat operator, we packed our bags and infant daughter, Julia, and started a new boat business in Bird’s Eye Cove (Maple Bay).