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Interesting Visitors at Capes

This March we have an especially interesting group staying at the Capes Escape vacation rental house. Here is a brief description of who they are and what they will be doing while visiting the Comox Valley.

"Royston is one of the greatest ship graveyards in Western North America and it has been largely neglected by maritime historians and nautical archaeologists, with the exception of the work by local historian Rick James.

Our March venture is a joint trip by the Underwater Archaeological Society of BC and the Canadian members of the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (based at Texas A&M). A team of eight divers and surveyors has experience on a wide range of sites in western Canada and North America, including recent discoveries in the Yukon. Thanks to the permission of InterFor and the participation of Rick James, we expect to examine all 14 hulks on the site to determine the potential for more detailed research opportunities. Of particular interest are the three Cape Horn windjammers one of which was constructed in the 1870's and there are the multitude of destroyers, frigates, whalers, lumber carriers and steam tugs as well.

There is a lot to see at Royston, our interest is academic, and the end result will be a status report to the provincial government. I should add we do not remove artifacts or disturb sites and we operate within the parameters of the Heritage Conservation Act.

See inadiscover.com and www.uasbc.com for our organizational websites."

Underwater Archaeological Society of BC