Arriving at Fortune I was met by customs and border
authorities and did my in processing.
I met the Harbor Master (Kerry Keeping) and he led me to a dock for the
night. The next day I was looking
for a bank to change my Euros back to Canadian dollars, but there was no bank
in town, the closest was at Grand Bank some 4 KM north. I decided to run the boat up there and
get a dock space for the following night.
I was told there were restaurants and other amenities along with the
bank. In the meantime I met a
couple getting on the ferry to St Pierre, and explained my need to convert my
Euros, we came to an agreement and exchanged funds. Since I had already out
processed from my dock I continued with moving up the coast.
There were restaurants and shops in Grand Bank and at night
I went to a show entitled “Woodstock Revival”. While the performers were not Broadway caliber, they were
entertaining for the night. It is interesting to see the interpretation of that era by folks who were not alive when it actually occurred. I am
sitting in Firebird writing this portion of my comments it is 2230 hrs and
still light enough to see and the salmon are jumping in the harbour.
Iron Skull Mountain for which the festival is named.
Belloeram
I left Grand Bank today to go to Belleoram. There was a rumor that the Iron Skull
festival was taking place over the weekend. It was an uneventful crossing and I found Belleoram quite
charming. The festival was at the
top of a huge hill, ½ way to the top of the valley heading over the
mountain. I tied up to a commercial
wharf and decided to walk to the festivities. It was a long walk from the boat
to the music, when I got there I needed fluid. The music in NL all seems to
sound the same no matter who is singing. It was sort of folk country, pleasant
but after a while I got tired of it and went into town. 2 streets was the town,
upper and lower both 1 way and about 10 buildings long. On the upper there were
3 convenience stores and 1 video rental. The town was having a fish dinner at
the community center, $8 for cod and salmon with mash potatoes slaw and
cake. It was delicious. The ladies gave me another portion of
salmon for later.
Back at the boat, I stashed the salmon and noticed a man
cleaning cod on the rocks, Frank was his name and we shared a few stories while
he cleaned the cod. He is the
night watchman at the fish farming dock. Cooke Corp. is the largest salmon
farming company in NL. Frank
was passing the time waiting for a truck pickup of salmon just delivered from
the pens up in the fjord. He explained that they were all iced down and would
be delivered to a processing plant in another location. Frank gave me 3 filets.
I invited him on Firebird. I have
found that the Newfoundlanders are curious about Firebird and too polite to ask
to board. Frank and I shared some
cold lemonade. Before he had to go load a truck with the iced down salmon.
The last act was billed to start at 1 AM. The said it was rock for the youngsters
as the old-timers would be in bed by then.
The next morning I decided to try and calibrate the auto
pilot again, as it has been giving me fits all summer. I tried several time but couldn’t get
the calibrations to take and the feedback rudder position was not
functioning. I figured that
something had disconnected in the rough seas of the other day so I had to enter
the lazareth and check it out.
Sure enough the drive post was loose and the feedback arm had come
undone. The installation was the
culprit, the mechanics did a Rube Goldberg approach to securing the post (on
which all depends). I did the best
to correct it and was pleased that it functioned well on today’s trip. While in the engine room doing my usual
pre-castoff routine, I noticed that there was a lot of diesel fluid under the
generator, upon further inspection; I found the fuel filter loose. I had a
mechanic at Baddeck change the filters and fluids, so it has been leaking for
the trip. I borrowed a filter
wrench from a fisherman and tightened the canister and cleaned up the
mess. Now I was ready to
leave. I noticed that the starting
battery has been slow and was drained, the engine is hard to start. I believe the battery needs to be replaced
because I have been watching the amps charging and the battery needs a lot when
starting off but the need reduces to normal after a few hrs.
Well I cruised at my leisure to Breton Harbor because the
guide stated that I could refuel here.
I could have done so at Fortune and Grand Bank from a fuel truck, but
held out for here to get a pump at the wharf. No such luck.
The pump is closed and fuel is delivered on Tue and Thur each week. So either I solve the problem another
way or I loose a day waiting for fuel.
It was blowing a gale as I entered the harbor and as I cruised to the
top I was looking for a place to tie up.
Nothing at the top but I saw a friend from Australia anchored in the
middle of the harbor. Odern is their boat and they have traveled from their
homeland in an around the world cruise.
They came here for the same reason as I, for fuel. This is their next to last stop before
St Pierre and Dublin. The last
time I saw them was in Baddeck.
What are the chances?
I went toward the entrance of the harbor and tied up to the
old commercial wharf. I went
looking for electricity so as to keep my battery charged. My electric cords gave me 130 ft and I
was about 50 ft short after sliding my boat down the dock. The connection from the bait shed was alive
and providing electricity to another fishing boat, I went on that boat and
found an open circuit to plug into to provide electricity to Firebird. Looks
like free electric for me tonight.
I ended the day by cooking up the cod filets and reheating some leftover
fries. Spent the day talking to
fishermen and took a ride on my bike into the lower town. I visited Sunny Cottage which is a well
maintained turn of the 19th century three story house. Three stories is a rarity in
Newfoundland, having been built by a merchant in the town, providing a glimpse
into the past. It should be noted
that there was no indoor privies or electricity. I even got a chance to go up to the widow’s peak for a great
view of the harbour.
The next day was fuel day, a truck was scheduled for
delivery to Harbour Breton on Tuesday.
I was scheduled for a fill up.
The truck didn’t arrive until 1400 hrs and after getting filled up, it was
too late for me to leave for my next destination. I was curious as to if the aboriginal reserve had pump
service at the dock so I decided to investigate tomorrow. The harbour authority came by and gave
me a bill for the 2 days on dock.
I told him that his price was higher that Fortune and he agreed to give
me the evening for free.
Wednesday at 0600 I
departed Harbour Breton and headed for Conne River Reserve. I wanted to leave early, as the wind
and rain were a possible forecast for the day. The early morning was hazy but once starting up the Bay
d’Espoir the wind shifted to the north and the sun came out. It was an uneventful trip, but the
depths in the bay and tributaries were so deep that one of my sounders couldn’t
get a reading, so I turned it off until I got to 800 feet. Upon arrival I was greeted by some
folks who informed me that there was a dock fee and was I sure I wanted to tie
up. Across the river at St Albans
there is a free dock, so these folks get very few visitors. That fact and owing to charts of the
area do not show this wharf or facility.
I determined to stay put and check it out. This is a reserve marina and is run by the Miawpukek Harbour
Authority. This is a “First Nation” aboriginal reservation, no pictures as there wasn't anything interesting to photograph. I cruised to McCallum from Conne River.
McCallum NL
Today I journeyed from Conne River to McCallum. While it would only take a short run (I
thought) it would be interesting as I would be traveling a different route down
the bay, on the north side of Boise Island. That side was narrow and when I started up it going to Conne
River, I met a strong current. So
with an outgoing tide, I expected a 3 hour push. The walls of this path were closer to center ad more
imposing. Here is the problem, it was total fog all the way down so no
opportunity for any good pictures.
When I reached the mouth of the bay and headed west, I was greeted by
rough water as much as 3-4 meters.
Firebird handled it well, but I had to slow down to minimize the impact
on the boat and me. I made it to McCallum with the aid of radar. McCallum is one of the last true
“Outports” left in Newfoundland.
An “Outport” is an isolated village along the coast which was originally
established to support the fishing industry. St John’s is an “Inport” which
means that it was the controlling center for the industry. The fisher barons all lived in St
John’s. If you get a chance pick
some of Farley Mowat’s books, to get a real sense of the life on the coast. With
the demise of the fishing industry the government has made a concerted effort
to close these Outports as a cost cutting measure. The government would buy the house from the owner and
resettle them in a population center they would allow the owner to retain the
bought homes as camps etc, but they couldn’t live there permanently. The government’s intentions were to
redistribute the work force into other ventures. The unintended consequences were high unemployment of the
resettled folks as the job markets did not expand in the other industries as
expected. A lot of the youth and
middle aged men have gone to Alberta where the oil industry is providing a
employment boom.
This brings me to McCallum, 96% of the population must vote
for resettlement to make this happen.
Last vote was 67% so I’m told.
So about 50 residents cling to a way of life in this little town, which
can only be reached by boat or Helicopter. There is a community center, medical aid office, school, and
1 store. There is a diesel fuel electric generating plant of electricity. Water flows from the nearby mountain. I met several men who work for the
biggest aquaculture conglomerate (Cooke) maintaining the salmon pens out in the
bay.
Instead of sidewalks, the community is full of wooden walkways. Most folks own 4 wheel ATV and ride the walk ways.
Or not. She is going to meet the ferry.
If anyone has seen the Robin Williams movie "Popeye" this village reminds me of "Sweet Haven"
I decided to climb this hill tomorrow.
Francios in the evening
Mr Wilson getting ready to leave Francios NL
I set off on Sunday to Gray River, but got there so quickly that I decided to add 30 more miles today and cruise to Burgeo NL. The going was not smooth and the ever present fog abounded. During the run, I spotted two sun fish (Mora-Mora) once at the mid point in the cruise and finally as I approached Burgeo. These pictures are what I was able to catch.
I made Burgeo
and tied up along side the public dock at about 5 o’clock. Helping me with the lines was a
friendly couple from a sailboat.
It turns out that they are from Marion Massachusetts. Small world reaffirms itself again,
when in the course of our getting acquainted, turns out that Michael was born
and educated in Winchester England.
I use to live there in another life.
Burgeo was nondescript. No pictures and I can only comment that the folks were friendly
giving me rides to the grocery store and bank. The town is not cut off as were
Francios or McCallum and it was thriving. All of the things that you would need were available here. I managed to do a load of laundry.
Tomorrow I'll visit Grand Bruit which was resettled. I understand there were a few hold outs at Grand Bruit which I'll see first hand.
Grand Bruit (Pronounced: Grand Brit)
I took a lot of pictures of this place because of it's uniqueness and because it is really spookie. In the school house there is a soccer ball in the middle of the floor and school paper on the desk. It looks like they just evacuated in a panic.
This is the old school house note the sign: "Grand Bruit All-Grades School" Also note the wires cut from the source and the meter removed. This was the final act of removing Governmental support from the village. There were some homes which still had the wires connected and had meters installed. I am told that they didn't sell out and have electric service from the mainland.
On Great Bruit and thru out Newfoundland there is the abundance of fresh water, in the many towns and villages the water is free and is usually left running 24/7. In the winter this servs a function of not freezing up, in the summer time??? The waterfalls is the overflow
I traveled from Grand Bruit to Isle au Mort (Island of the dead rough translation)
Isle au Mort wharf
I stayed at the wharf for the night and cruised to Ingonish the next day. It took 12.5 hours to cross the Cabot Straits as the seas were very rough and I had to moderate speed and angles to make the crossing bearable. Thus ending my side trip to Newfoundland and St Pierre.
The next day after a well deserved sleep, I left Ingonish for Baddeck. I will pass by Bird Island which is noted for it's Puffin population and bald eagles. The day was considerably calmer with no wind. My only consideration today was the window to enter Great Bra d'Ore channel. The current can be difficult as it doesn't change until 4 hours after low tide. So to get the advantage of a current, I needed to be at the mouth 4 hrs after low tide.
Leaving Ingonish and cruising by Bird Island
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