Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
2 Evans Bay, Read Island, B.C.
Asking price: $3.99-million
Taxes: $2,327.67 (2023)
Lot size: 8.22 acres, with 980 feet of waterfront
Listing agent: Nicole Eastman and Paul Hague, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
The property
Of all the reasons a Toronto couple might want eight acres of land and waterfront in the Discovery Islands of British Columbia fishing may not be the usual answer.
Nevertheless, that’s why Peter and Theresa Kinver bought the mini compound on Read Island 16 years ago. “We came to this area to do some fishing with the grandchildren and fell in love with the place,” Mr. Kinver said.
The fishing trip wasn’t a one-off, either. “Every holiday we always went fishing somewhere,” he said but the relatively calm and flat oceans found inside the Discovery Islands appealed to Theresa. For about half the year they’ve been living off the abundant catch ever since; pulling in everything from chinook salmon and ling cod to trapping crab and shrimp.
“I’m from South Africa – I used to have a tuna fishing company there. It started as a hobby and grew into a business,” said Mr. Kinver. He caught the fishing bug as a young man growing up in the U.K., but fishing in lakes of England might mean an eight-ounce lake trout. When he returned to Cape Town, suddenly a fishing trip could mean wrestling with a 100-pound-tuna, or game fish such as marlin or sailfish (which were released back into the sea). Eventually his customers just wanted to come out onto the ocean for the experience, not even particularly fussed about the catch.
Another hobby that turned into a business accounts for the plentiful oyster beds off the property’s almost 1,000 feet of beach. A few years back, Mr. Kinver began a shellfish farm across Evans Bay, in part because of the high tides (almost 15 feet), which makes the oysters stronger.
“I was supposed to be retired and this oyster business is growing and growing, so we sold it and we took a lot of the product and dumped it in front of our house,” he said. To keep a commercial oyster licence, he brings in a contractor to harvest once a year – taking out about 500 dozen oysters, which barely dents the population leaving him with an almost limitless supply.
They basically keep nothing but staples in the freezer, pulling fresh catch out of the ocean. They’ve gotten quite advanced in their preparation, and even built a Japanese-style teppanyaki tea house for guests (and themselves) to enjoy.
The island getaway
Home of the Week, 2 Evans Bay, Read Island, B.C.Sotheby’s International Realty Canada
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Read Island is about halfway between Campbell River on Vancouver Island and Desolation Sound Marine Park (which borders on the mainland). The property is near the top of a long narrow inlet on the eastern side of the land that opens to the south. The 100-foot deepwater dock is partially sheltered by small rocky outcrops and the main house sits above it. The house can be accessed from the logging road that runs north and south along the island interior, but more typically involves a 45-minute boat ride to Campbell River or a float plane from Vancouver or elsewhere landing near the dock.
“It’s totally off-grid, no real roads or ferries, there’s only a few families,” Mr. Kinver said of the island. They’ve added a large greenhouse on their land to keep them in fresh veggies and herbs all year (and cut down on boat trips) as well as adding solar and wind power they put in a full water treatment system for the septic to keep the grey water from polluting the bay. There is a backup diesel generator for when the sun’s not shining, and while the taxes are low for the property the fuel costs – between boats and propane and other needs – end up being close to $10,000 a year.
The main house’s large oceanview deck attaches to the dock (which has a boathouse) and features a wood-fired hot-tub. What was a fairly basic house when it was built in the nineties was updated by the Kinvers to add a large primary bedroom facing the water. There are four bedrooms in this structure (and more to come in the others) with two bathrooms.
The garden is almost five acres of space, and the couple has made some of the seven structures on the property their own. The on-site log-cabin and workshop has become Mr. Kinver’s woodworking happy space (with one bed and bath) and the one-and-a-half storey “Guest Studio” is where Mrs. Kinver can retreat to paint when guests aren’t using the one-bedroom loft. There’s also a one-bedroom cottage (with its own laundry) that has been used by caretakers in the past.
There are also two purely entertainment buildings: the first already mentioned is the teppanyaki house on a point of land extending into the bay. The second is a large separated living space in a clearing off the woods, the “Sun Room” is just over 1,200 square feet of brick, stone and cedar plank filled with large windows and wood-fired stove and pizza oven. The multipurpose party room has indoor and outdoor seating as well.
“We have friends who visit … people enjoy it because of the different environments,” said Mr. Kinver. “They can sit on the beach and make a little bit of a fire, or we can go to a sophisticated teppanyaki grill.”
The property also has an apple orchard and a vineyard that produces about 100 pounds of grapes that can be taken to a nearby island where a local vintner is happy to produce your own Evan’s Bay vintage. “They press them for you and bottle it … it won’t win any prizes,” warns Mr. Kinver.
Fish story
All fisherman have stories about the one that got away, but sometimes they are the ones with the close call.
“Here you’ll occasionally you’ll see a pod of orcas,” said Mr. Kinver, but on a recent 5 a.m. fishing trip with his wife (who doesn’t always go out with him) they got a little closer than they were used to.
“There was not a breath of wind and normally you can hear an orca miles away, when all a sudden a pod of orcas starts touching the boat,” he said. “The mama orca, her dorsal fin was six feet out the water. She was looking right at me. They are four or five feet across! I didn’t know what to do. … We’ve been reading about how these orcas are getting aggressive towards boats. … So I told her get your camera, get your phone … but she was so nervous.”
All’s well that ends well, the motor was still running and as they trolled slowly away the orcas carried on about their business and left them alone. Just a regular morning on the Pacific coast.