On the morning of October 21st Chris and I got up early. Arturo slept in. Chris and I took a short drive down the coast. Our first stop was at Royston, and we checked out all the old ships that were deliberately sunken along a jetty. Sadly they are only accessible by a small boat. The jetty was once a log dump, and a train brought logs from interior sawmills to the coast. Now it is just abandoned.
After that we continued down the coast to Union Bay. There was a ship breaking yard here that we hoped to gain access to. But, it has been a very controversial endeavor since it opened a couple of years ago, to the point that neighbors have been protesting and picketing the site. I understand that there is even a lawsuit before the courts. The neighbors are concerned that their property values are declining. But, the ship yard is on the site of another former log dump, and right next door is a site that is apparently the most polluted site on the island. Here there once was a wharf that was used to load coal from the nearby Cumberland mine, onto ships. The area is littered with coal slag and debris and the beach and seafloor is mostly devoid of life. There is a large residential development here with streets and street lights and utilities run in to serviced lots. But nothing has been built yet, and it sits waiting for something.
Chris and I explored and photographed a little, including a short run a little further down the beach to where some oyster boats were working. Then we headed back to the rental house and picked up Arturo. We returned to Union Bay and explored and photographed the area a little further, including in some nearby woods.
As the day came to an end we turned back up to Courtenay and dropped our gear off at the house. Then we went out to a local pub in the evening. After that we returned to the rental house to relax and unwind and prepare for the adventure that the next day would bring.
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