82SOl NTULA , MALCOL~ ISLA~D
Malcolm Island was settled by Finnish immigrants of th~ Kalevan Kansa
Colonization Company in 1900 in one o f the first attempts at a socialjst
cooperative commune. Ihe hard working settlers ~ade thcir living from fishing,
farming. and 10gging. Sointula. which meo.ns Piace o f Harmony, .... as the sile of
their main village. Personality conflicls , particularly \"ith the irascible
leader, caused a break-up in 19 05. ~lany of the orisinal residents remained and
the c ammunit}' survived in a slightly different fOfr.l.
The calm simplicity of Sointula. the neat cottages Io'ith their carefully
tended flower gardens, and the hard \.,oorking residents gave this pIace a feeling
of peace, in (ontrast l a the ra .... , rough Iand and people alI a r ound it. ~luch of
the success was due to the fact that no liquor, no religious inlolerance and no
police force '-'as on the island, until the 1960 ' s .... hen the hippies in\'aded
SOlntula.Today, Nalcolm Island <lnd Sointula have cha:-;ed. They are no"" connected t o
the B.e. road system by a three-tO'o.'n ferI;; that calls at Port ~1c!\eill and Alert
Bay as we 1 1. The ferry dock is near the fuel dock al the center of town
(around Dickenson Point). The 5mall craft harbo r is dbout 1 mile further into
Rough Bay, behind an L-shaped breab'ater.The harbor was expanded in 1984 - 1985. This is a. bus}' place during the
fishing season as rnany vessels frorn southern B.C. use Sointula as a base in
summer. In addition to the old wharf and four finger fIoat s , a newer wharf and
three finger floats has been added to the north. Both sets of floats are
approached around the end of the breakwater.A harbormastcr, based in the 5mall hut on the old wharf, controls alI
berthing in the small eraft harbor and eoIleets the nQminal gO\'ernrnent fee.
Check with the harbormaster on arrivaI, o r ii after hours find any berth and
check in the next morning.At the head of the I.·harf, across the road is the !:larine hard· •• are branch of
the Cooperath'e Stare. The main store, post office, h otel, restaurant, and a
museum are at the (enter of town. The ~alk to t>';I' ... n is pledsant.Port Mcffeill is a modern town, ... ith nany of t~e facilitif's usual to these
dE'\·elopments. "government dock and floats are !:Jehind thE' break ... ater that
protects the ferry dock. The approach [rom A!ert Bay t o Sointul a o r Port
~c~eil1 passes Haddington Island. A traffie separatlon seheme (for cruise 5~
ships aod large freighters) 15 established far eaeh sidE' o f the island. Lights
mark the reefs, ledges, and :;hoals. The passagl?s are I.·ide enough to cause
5rrall vessels fe .... problerns if the lights and marks Me> carefull~' identified.Continuing ~est from Sointula lhrough Brou~~.ton Strait a \'E'ssel exits into
Qucen Charlotte Strait on passing Pulte>ney Point Lighthouse. This light is on
che south ... ·est tip of ~laleolm lsland. This is a!l ir:1port3nt ... ·eather reporting
lighthouse, and Hs deep fog horns ean be very '~E'le'~!1e during foggy periods.
In summer the ..... ·esterly ... inds often raise il chop in thi5 seet ion of Broughton
Slr<lit. The most cornfortable time for lran>! up the coast i5 in the early
morning.