This cottage was built in 1922 by the Armstrong family.

 

In the early 1930's Muriel Macdonald visited Buccaneer Bay with Mrs. Ross, Stewart Sherwood's Mother and fell in love with Thormanby Island. She returned to Vancouver and announced to her husband that they would leave their cottage at Cowan's Point on Bowen Island and purchase on Thormanby Island. The story is that our grandfather didn't  have a choice. He rented a fish boat to ship their furniture from Bowen to Buccaneer. The furniture is the same type of wicker and wood which can still be found in cottages at Cowan's Point and at Buccaneer.

 

Muriel and Don's children, Joan, Patsy and Donald were lucky to spend their summers growing up at Buccaneer Bay until the war. In later years it was Patsy who continued to return with her Father (and later her three children). Don continued to go to the Bay until his death in 1960.

 

Patsy would share her stories of going to dances in Halfmoon Bay with Revely Farish, his brother, with Jack Vaughn and Mom's sister, Joan. She remembered riding horses at Vaughcroft with Dimp Wood, Eleanor Riggs, Revely and Jack.

 

During the war lots of the Macdonald family spent time at Buccaneer Bay. Muriel Macdonald was unable to return to Buccaneer after 1950.

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In the early 50's Joe Dunn would row into our cottage to get his water from our well. As time went by, Joe would come in for a visit and share his stories of riding to Texada Island on the back of a porpoise, or he would take us up by the well and teach us how to be patient and learn to feed the island deer.

 

Theses were the days of the "stone boat". They included wonderful trips from Secret Cove in the "Sousam", Francis Stone's water taxi. It was always a long, but exciting, journey.

 

Donald, Patsy's brother, sailed from Vancouver Island with his family for many summers until the 1970's. in the early days, he would skipper "Amberjack", his father's prized mahogany sloop, which was easily recognized by the locals.

 

Patsy would arrive for her summer holidays in an open boat, loaded with propane tanks, cats, chairs, a dog, several children and as much food as the fat old fridge could handle. Those weekly grocery runs done by the B and J Store would keep us well stocked.

 

Mom would go water witching (divining) which was successful on the front beach and on Holmes land on the North end of the Island.

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The Ryan/Manson cottage has a prized bathtub with running hot water. This was paddled from Holmes on Sports Day morning as Mary and Mom attempted to win a prize with a decorated boat. The head winds meant that they arrived hours after the judging. It is easy to see them giggling from start to finish.

 

Patsy spent every summer at her cottage on the bluff in Water Bay until 1991, with only the occasional  visit after that time. Patsy's heart and soul will always remain at Buccaneer Bay. She passed away in January, 1998.

 

The Ryan kids learned lots of tricks in Water Bay. For example, Maureen's docking skills came from sailing massive log rafts with Rod and Pamela in and around the moored boats in Water Bay. Mr. Simson always looked nervous for his perfect hull as the Ryan kids paddled over to greet him while he worked almost daily on his boat moored off their bluff. They could find him with a blindfold as he always hummed and whistled while he worked.

 

The after dinner visits to the front beach were never a problem at night for the Ryan children. Though, bumping into deer was a reality, if we carried a long, heavy branch they could usually be scared into the bushes. We were sometimes forced to find the Leigh's, the Cornwall's or the McLaughlin's to borrow a flashlight to help us find our way.

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Tag Nygard's logging days were special in their own way. Always exciting to watch him drive his equipment along the little roads. The original path behind the Water Bay cot­tages was forgotten once the heavy machinery came into use. In the beginning, trees were pulled down the road to the water in Water Bay where Jim Henderson's cottage is now. Eventually this log dump was moved over to the north side of Water Bay. Tag's regard for trees will always be remembered by the Ryan's. He would take us out to look at the huge Island trees that he spotted in his time.

 

Rod has recently purchased property and has built a new cabin at the North Point of Thormanby, but Water Bay is still the family cottage which he shares it with his sisters. Pamela's and Sandy's children, Alex and Sarah are the fourth generation at the Macdonald cottage.