Get a tour of Saint John's abandoned, historic Partridge Island

Partridge Island, with its lighthouse, graveyards and Second World War-era ruins, visible from west Saint John, has been officially off-limits since the mid-1990s. 

That hasn't stopped frequent trespassing over the risky rock breakwater connecting the island with Bayshore Beach. 

But as of this summer, there's a legal way to visit — at least by kayak.

Saint John kayaking tour company River Bay Adventures is now licensed to offer guided outings to the island for the first time in more than two decades.

"The company is proposing to have safe, professional guided outings to the island, and provide stewardship actions, meaning that they do things to take care of the island while they're out there," said Department of Fisheries and Oceans spokesperson David Jennings. 

Crossing over to the island on the breakwater remains illegal. 

The public should know that Partridge Island remains "an overgrown island," said guide Jim Donahue. "It's not a park."

But after "jumping though all kinds of hoops" to get permission to offer tours, he said it's "very cool to be there and it has lots of potential."

River Bay Adventure has a licence to take kayakers onto the island until December 2018, according to the DFO. 

Tours cost $65 a person and take two to three hours, although they can be "longer or shorter depending on what people want to see and whether they want to take pictures," said Donahue.

CBC reporter Julia Wright took the tour and captured these photos.

River Bay Adventures guide John Kelly surveys Second-World-War-era searchlight emplacements on Partridge Island — structures rarely seen, except by ships, since they're on the southern shore farthest from the mainland. Paddling from the Digby Ferry Terminal beach to the far side of the island takes about 25 minutes depending on the weather and tides.

Tall weeds and alder bushes partially obscure Canadian Coast Guard signage on the island. The lighthouse, automated since 1989, and a nearby helicopter landing pad are maintained by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

The southeastern cape of the island offers panoramic views from the inner harbour all the way to Nova Scotia. The swells from ships combined with the Bay of Fundy's world-famous tides make for some significant waves once paddlers make it past the area sheltered by the breakwater.

Paddling in Saint John Harbour allows a closer look at the massive tanker ships, ferry and pilot boats that work in the harbour every day.

The Partridge Island winch house once housed machinery used to haul in supplies from docking ships. It's now one of the only structures remaining near the ruined dock on the northeast shore of the island, where the tour begins.

Guides Pete Lavigne and John Kelly haul up to the rocky shore. 'The wharf where they did dock back in the 1990s is pretty well gone,' says Kelly, 'so we've created a temporary slip to get the kayaks in.' The landing is still pretty rough — it's strewn with bricks and concrete from buildings that have crumbled by the tides — but it's the only practical way for visitors to access trails leading to the lighthouse and other historic sites. 

Wooden pilings, heavy rope and bricks are all that remain of the buildings on the former Partridge Island dock. A ramp would have been used by ships to unload heavy supplies.

The Partridge Island lighthouse was manned from 1791 until 1989, when the light was automated. The light is still fully operational and maintained by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. 

Viewed from the top of the Second World War-era radio tower, guide Pete Lavigne collects discarded bottles and other trash on the island. 'We try to pick up a little bit every time we come over here, as well as trim back the bushes around the paths,' Lavigne says. According to DFO spokesperson David Jennings, River Bay Adventures has proposed to 'provide stewardship actions of the island during their safe, professional guided tours — in other words, to do things to take care of the island while they're out there.'

A wartime observation post has been trashed, burned and heavily tagged with graffiti. The condition of the building is typical of those left on the island, although researchers and advocates are continuing the decades-old push to fund restoration and make it an accessible tourist site.

A 12-metre-tall Celtic cross constructed in 1927 is one of only a handful of structures on the island that are visible from the mainland. The memorial to the Irish immigrants who died on the island during the Great Famine overlooks the burial grounds on the island's south-facing shore, where hundreds were buried. The man who designed and built the cross, George McArthur, was buried at its base in 1932.

A quiet resting place: white wild roses mark the grave sites of hundreds of immigrants who passed through the island during the years it was used as a quarantine station. Flowers and plant species found on the island include lilacs, buttercups, bunch berries, alders, elderberry and mountain ash.

Before the 1980s, the graveyard on the island was destroyed, says historian Harold Wright. He reports that on his walks on the island in the 1970s, he would regularly come across human bones that had been uncovered by the elements. In 1985, "it was one of my projects to make sure that they were re-buried" — halfway between the Catholic and Protestant graveyards, to stay on the safe side of lingering spirits.

Although at least 600 people (and, some say, many more) are buried on the island, the only name that appears on a headstone is that of George McArthur, builder of the Celtic Cross at the centre of the island. The rest of the markers, including this one, indicate mass graves and are dedicated to the Catholic, Protestant and Jewish immigrants buried there.

Since the last official tours stopped coming to Partridge Island in 1995, the site has been a target of vandals and arsonists. Most of the remaining structures are heavily tagged with graffiti and have been severely damaged. 'You can't bring it back, and it's sad when that happens,' says guide John Kelly, 'but we can enjoy what is still there.'

A deep, sunken concrete corridor below the surface of the island is lined with rusted shutters. It's part of a network of tunnels that link the sites of the Second World War-era gun turrets. Explorers need to be mindful of these hazards, but 'we've chosen a pathway that is safe,' says guide John Kelly.

Hidden hydrant: it takes a sharp eye to detect remnants of Partridge Island's past. The foundations of homes and buildings are concealed by thick alder and rose bushes, and the gravelly beaches are strewn with bits of pottery and broken machinery. This fire hydrant, now bent and rusted, is almost entirely overgrown with weeds. 

The fog alarm building overlooking the western shore of the island has been extensively burned, but the exterior of the concrete structure remains. The nearby cliffs offer views of the Manawagonish Island Nature Preserve, where River Bay Adventures also offers tours. 

Heading back to Saint John from the temporary slip on the southeastern shore. The vantage point of the island offers 'a great combination of history, and a panoramic view of the city,' says guide John Kelly, paddling out. 'You can see everything from the Bay of Fundy to the industrial east side. It's a special area with great potential given that combination alone.' 

Guide Pete Lavigne stops for a break on the paddle back to the Digby Ferry Terminal beach, which on a clear day offers views of the Saint John skyline as well as a chance to see seals, birds, and other marine life. 'The history of the island is really cool, but the views of Saint John are really spectacular,' says guide Jim Donahue. 'There's a lot of overgrowth, but there is the potential for something incredible. It's a cool place that needs work.'

Sight sea-ing: a little-seen view except by boat, with the Fundy Rose departing from the ferry terminal on Saint John's lower west side to Digby, N.S., against a backdrop of the uptown skyline. 

Partridge Island is full of contrasts: rolling cliffs covered in wildflowers, a designated national and provincial historic site, with little-seen views of Saint John, and habitat for a variety of bird species and marine life. But it's also a dark place: a long-neglected piece of Canada's immigration history, all remaining buildings destroyed, as well as the site of hundreds of unmarked graves.