Liza (Liz Kaye) Michaelson's Shaw Story

AS SOON as you said "Did we really do that?" I remembered stealing wine from the nuns who ran the store at the ferry landing, and getting very very drunk on the beach, and canoeing under a full moon around Turn island, which turned out to be a near-death ordeal because of the raging currents and never did any adult know about it.

The outhouse was named the Robinson Crusoe because the wall with no door looked out across the straits to Friday Harbor (for "Man Friday" John was always joking). The song, "Ribbon time, and the winnin’ is easy." John would belt it out every evening after dinner and the line to the little red shed would be out the door.

I remember the ONLY rules being: (1) Don’t light a match unless you are on the beach (note: nothing about why we might want to be lighting matches), and (2) you must pass a swim test and a boat test to take out a boat. Unless of course it's after dark and nobody is watching.

Somehow John convinced the manager of the Empress Hotel in Victoria to allow umpteen of us to pack into two rooms to spend the night after traveling there in the steamboat owned by Bob Ellis, the "Oceanid."

Did he really drive us around the field in that hay wagon with no way to watch behind him to see if anybody fell out? Did he really start every return trip in the van with, "If you’re not here raise your hand," and then pedal to the medal?

— Liza Michaelson, 2025

Shaw ferry landing.

To return to the main page, Shaw Island, Camp Cedar Rock, hit back arrow on your browser or click here.