A Walk and a Roadtrip
Monday is sunny with a pleasant temperature. Ann and I agree this is a good day for a walk around Woolfrey’s Pond, as soon as I have finished some laundry.
The lilacs are opening and the trout lilies dot the forest floor along the sides of the boardwalk. We move around the pond and include the walk to the lookout. Ann is itching for a swim. I promise to play lifeguard the day she decides to venture in. We stop for a shared granola bar and water when we get to the beach area. A lone loon is fishing just off shore. I wonder if it is the same, very large loon I spotted in the marina basin this morning. They are even larger here than in Ontario.
Ann records the lovely song of a small bird we spot above us. She will send it to her sister for identification and I later send it to Tim with the same purpose. Word comes back from “sister” that it is a red-crowned kinglet.
We head to the grocery store after our walk, to pick up supper things and a few “specials”. When I return, Seabiscuit is being lifted so the centreboard can be dropped for the necessary repair. We now stand about 13 feet above the ground, requiring a longer ladder, plus our swim ladder, to get into the boat. We remain in the travel lift and sling. Not ideal, but only temporary.
Our expectations change daily, as we work on repairing the centreboard mechanism and reassembling the housing for the mechanism in the bilge. That is where we were taking on water last week. The plan to go to Labrador is fleeting, but not just because of the repairs. We now see these delays as part of the bigger plan as we know there is still too much ice to venture northwest. One day at a time.
We sleep well and long. No rush in the mornings so we linger over breakfast and an audio book then head to the clubhouse to wash our dishes and to connect with our neighbours.
The marina manager is not comfortable with the boat at its current height, plus the travel lift will be needed later today. The boys come and lower us again and remove the sling.
Jim tells us he can come at “dinner time” (noon) to remove the sheave and sheave housing where, it has been determined, is where the cable for the centreboard has been stuck. This is what was making it so difficult to raise the board. The banging of the board is another problem but we might have another solution for this, to get us thorough the summer, hopefully with quiet nights. He has found a machinist in Embree who will repair or rebuild the sheave and housing.
This is all complete by 2:00 so Harald and I head out on an afternoon trip to Leading Tickles, at the north end of the peninsula between Seal Bay and New Bay. We sailed along this coast last summer, between Triton and Fortune. It is a 90 minute drive, through Point Leamington and Northern Arm along the Bay of Exploits. The road then heads inland past Botwood and north to Leading Tickles and Cull Island across the harbour.
Max was right - it is a lovely little harbour. The island is very hilly, with houses clinging to the edges above the small fishing harbour.
We park at the far west end of the island and take the trail, noted “Walking Trail, easy, Hiking Trail, treacherous.” Unfortunately, we don’t know which is which but we meet two gentlemen near the start of the trail. They tell us there is a sign at the cemetery, but they didn’t travel past it.
The walk is easy, along the boardwalk and stairs. Two large ice bergs are settled at the head of Seal Bay. After several photos we continue on the trail until we find the sign for the United Cemetery. The trail is steep, muddy and filled with rocks. Any burials here must have involved horses. We are about to give up when I spot the white headstones through the trees. It is a small cemetery with about a dozen headstones, the newest from 1964, the oldest from 1904.
We continue along the trail to the lookout, with a view of Burnt Island and the open Atlantic. The Baie Verte Peninsula fills the western horizon. Gull Island and the entrance to God’s Pocket are sitting just where we thought they would be in Seal Bay.
After the lookout we believe we are now on the “treacherous Hiking Trail” - rocky and steep with only tree branches to support our descent. Hammen Beach gives us a closer view of the ice bergs and we spot many crab pieces and sea urchins among the rocks. These we can understand, but the ones through the forest are a mystery.
Unfortunately, the Jack Ward Memorial General Store and Heritage Centre closed just 5 minutes before our arrival. We heard it is worth visiting. Fresh crab has just been offloaded at the fishing wharf but we don’t have a cooler or ice. I don’t relish the idea of live crab in the backseat as we travel home!
It is nearly supper time and lunch was just crackers and peanut butter, so we are hungry when we find the chip wagon along the route leaving town. Fish and chips was delicious - lightly battered but crispy.
Our rear tire has been showing some air loss for the last several days so we head into Botwood for a gas station providing air. I remember Botwood being featured in an episode of CBCs “Still Standing” so we drive through seeking the murals it is known for. We find three before a heavy rain hits us from the south and when we stop for ice cream we are rewarded with a beautiful rainbow.
The next day we watch the “Still Standing” episode and I do some research on the town. There is great history.
In 1904 Botwood was the shipping port for paper made at the mill in Grand Falls.
For more than 50 years, Botwood housed ore shipments from Buchans, before it was loaded and left by freighter to international destinations.
In 1933 Charles Lindbergh landed his seaplane here to refuel. He made the recommendation to British and American governments that Botwood would be an ideal place to developing transatlantic flights. The first experimental, and successful, flight took place in 1937.
The airport was constructed in 1936 and turned over to RCAF control in 1940 as there was concern Newfoundland may not be able to adequately defend the airport.
During the Second World War, the German freighter Christoph V Doornum was docked to load ore. War was declared that day and she was seized with the ship’s 25 crew taken to a prisoner of war camp in St. John’s. This incident is considered to be the first act of war in North America during that war.
About 10,000 soldiers passed through Botwood between 1940 and 1945.
During the war, a military hospital was set up by the RCAF. This eventually became a cottage hospital for the local people but closed in 1989 and was replaced with a health care centre. (Notes from Heritage Newfoundland)
We are aware now that we visited a town with a rich history - with provincial, national and international influences. Much of this history has been conserved through two museums, archives and the outdoor murals.
Perhaps we will return to explore further - maybe by boat in coming days.
Lupins are starting to bloom along the side of the highway. We saw none all through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, unlike last year when the roadside was bright with purple and pink.
Our day was complete with a visit to a new place, a great hike, three large ice bergs, fish and chips for supper, a short tour of historic Botwood….and a flat tire just 4 blocks from the marina - not the tire that has been losing air.
Leading Tickles