Sointula

Snapshots from Malcolm Island and northern Vancouver Island

We're just back from ten days on Malcolm Island, with a quick visit to Vancouver Island's west coast at Winter Harbour. Here are some photos from our visit: Sointula 2008.

Radical Finns Persevere off B.C. Coast

The Tyee has published my article Radical Finns Persevere off B.C. Coast, a review of Kevin Wilson's book Practical Dreamers: Communitarianism and Co-operatives on Malcolm Island.

Whale watcher finds peace in sea

The Globe and Mail has published a story by Tom Hawthorn about Malcolm Island's Troy Bright: Whale watcher finds peace in sea. Excerpt:

SOINTULA -- The stones on the beach at Beautiful Bay have been worn smooth and round from the ocean's ceaseless scrubbing. The receding tide tumbles stones onto stones. The clacking sounds like castanets.

This is Troy Bright's office. It is also his home. He works and lives in a two-person tent beneath a tarp strung between trees overlooking the beach.

Mr. Bright, 39, is a slight man with a quick smile. His greeting is warmer than the weather that he endures. Even on a sunny day, he rubs his hands and shivers inside a grey fleece top as summer gives way to fall.

A Sointula snapshot album

My wife and I were on Malcolm Island in mid-July, and had a very good time as always. We took a lot of pictures, and I've put some of them into an online photo album: Sointula 2006.

A Newcomer in Utopia

In July 2005 my wife and I visited Sointula for the second time. A year earlier we’d spent just half a day exploring the community and Malcolm Island. We saw enough to make us want to go back, so we spent over a week there and fell in love with it. What follows is my impression of one of the most remarkable communities in British Columbia.

Review of Sointula: Island Utopia

Here's a review of the basic book-length history of Sointula, from its origins to the 1990s: Sointula: Island Utopia.

Welcome to Sointula and Malcolm Island!

This is a blog (Web log) about a historic place on the BC coast: Sointula, Malcolm Island. The links in the side columns can connect you with more information about this remarkable community. We hope to make it a good source of news and information, supplementing other websites about the island and the Northern Vancouver Island region.

The photos below will give you just a taste of what to expect when you visit. Click on the photo to see a larger image of it.

As you approach the ferry landing, you can see the Wild Island Café and the Co-op behind it.

Big Lake isn't really very big—but it's a lovely spot, the end of the Mateoja Trail that runs from Sointula through lovely forests and Melvin's Bog to the mainline road.

From Kaleva Road, a little east of Sointula, you can look across the water to Vancouver Island.

The harbour reflects Sointula's long, proud history as a great fishing community.