I have wanted to go to Coal Harbour for years – hearing that it was worth a visit and that it has a museum dedicated to the World War II years when the village was a Royal Canadian Air Force station. My friend Cathy and I departed from Alert Bay to Port MacNeill on the ferry and from Port MacNeill, drove north on the highway going towards Port Hardy. This was our Mother’s Day Sunday outing and the sun was actually out!
The village is named after what first brought people there – coal, but that industry was abandoned when, as at nearby Fort Rupert, the coal was found to be of inferior quality. Today about 450 persons live in Coal Harbour and some enjoy gorgeous views into Quatsino Sound from homes perched high on a hill at the village’s west end. A major industry keeping the community going has been logging and the day we were there a commercial prawn boat was unloading a huge catch at the dock.
Also at the dock is where you’ll find the RCAF museum which Cathy and I were impressed with and really enjoyed. We were happy to find it open on a Sunday. I had been told that the museum was small, and expected to see perhaps one room. Instead, the museum resides in an old airplane hangar and takes up several rooms with a collection that ranges from turn of the 20th century telephones to Model T Ford cars.
The eclectic collection highlights stories of Coal Harbour’s not so savoury past, such as the years during which it was home to a whaling station that was in operation right up into the 1960s, but profiles the war years with obvious pride. Those years are celebrated with RCAF uniforms and numerous photos and other wartime paraphernalia. 
I had heard that a gentleman takes care of the museum, and he wasn’t there that day so I would definitely make another trip in order to chat with him about the collection.
Another reason for visiting Coal Harbour was to find the brother of David (Walrus) Garrick, about whom I am writing while in Alert Bay. Garrick has lived a fascinating life as an eco-warrior, was a Greenpeace founder, and established an educational camp on Hanson Island in the 1990s. I hope to have the story of his life completed sometime next year. We didn’t find his brother, but later in Port Hardy met a lady who said she was his neighbour! Oh well, funny how things happen.
Vancouver Island is full of surprising little places well worth driving to. It was rewarding last summer to hear so many British Columbians say how much they enjoyed the north island and when I start chatting with tourists again, will recommend a visit to Coal Harbour.
