Long Weekend In Little Bay Islands
Labour Day Weekend usually marks the end of the summer season, as vacation time is over and kids go back to school. This year, September 1st marks our return to Little Bay Islands, our last significant anchorage and a favoured stop.
Good-bye King’s Point
The sky is blue with a handful of small puffy clouds. The wind is sporadic or variable. Leaving King’s Point, we raise both sails and begin the sail back up the Southwest Arm toward Notre Dame Bay. Our speed ranges from 3.1 to 7.2 knots then we lose the wind completely, so down comes the foresail and we motor sail the remainder of the 21 nautical mile (39km) trip to LBI.
The air is cooler as we round Green Bay Island but the seas are still less than a metre. The ride is comfortable, the scenery around us spectacular. It would be a good day to see whales or other sea life, but none are within our field of vision.
By the time we turn at Northern Head, the waves are now a metre causing a spectacular sight around Black Rock Sunker. The rocks and shoal are creating a white, frothy spray, at least two metres high. Nobody should be hitting those rocks today.
Passing the green marker
I head east and turn back west so Harald has room to drop the mainsail and I slowly make our way down the narrow channel between Macks and Goat Islands. The town opens up ahead of us as we pass the green marker and I head to the same anchorage location as on the last two visits. (We had been told by more than one person, that the wharf would be busy this weekend. There was a very-well attended street dance here in August where apparently the boats were rafted-off four deep along the wharf. Not our idea of a quiet night.) There is nobody anchored and no boats yet at the wharf.
We both comment on how nice it is to be back to the familiarity of this resettled community. It was resettled in 2019, with just two year-round residents remaining, but it is by no means “dead”. During the summer it is thriving. We listen to the hum of the ATV’s as they move along the shore, small boats arrive with people and weekend supplies, chainsaws buzz and screen doors slam. It sounds like a long weekend in Ontario cottage country.
We stay put for the remainder of the day, knowing we will be heading to shore in the morning, to find Jackie and Rob and to hike to the lookout. (This is the couple we met on our stop here in July. They work for the Coast Guard and we had several chats with Rob along our journey this summer. They were also instrumental in the safe return of our dinghy.)
Nobody home
Saturday starts with a hint of humidity so we expect our trip to shore will be a warm one. I pack us some lunch and Harald lowers the dinghy. We pull up along the side of a small, private wharf a few houses from the government wharf. Our first stop is Rob and Jackie’s. Rob is at the stage cleaning the morning’s catch with his brother-in-law, Gerald. We wander down with Jackie and her sister-in-law, Ruby and discuss our plans for the day.
They warn us about the state of the boardwalk on the lookout trail and we head off in search of the trailhead. We are about to give up when an ATV stops and confirms we still have a bit of a walk along the main road, so he offers us a lift.
The first sight of the trail confirms it is in rough shape. Much of the walk is beside the dilapidated boardwalk but when that is not possible, we walk cautiously trying not to lower all of our weight. Not an easy task but the view from the top was worth it!
We sit at a picnic table off to the side of the lookout and eat our sandwiches and fruit. The area around us is filled with blueberry plants, but not one berry. (We were later told perhaps the voles have taken over the forest since the residents left the island with their cats. Maybe they have enjoyed the beloved berries we came prepared to pick. We know there are no bears.)
Our descent is easier than the climb and we are at the main road within twenty minutes. It is still very warm as we make our way back down to the village with a final stop at Rob and Jackie’s. We are invited to come back for a fish fry supper and to spend the evening with them.
The view from the top. Seabiscuit at centre. Long Island and Burnt Islands beyond.
Back at the boat we clean up best we can, pack a bottle of “bubbly” we’ve been saving for this occasion, a bean salad, flash lights and sweaters.
Rob is breading the cod when we arrive. We join the ladies at the kitchen table, the bubbly is opened and soon the fish is frying and the conversation is lively! Our appetizer is cod cheeks, tongues and “britches”, followed by the pan fried cod - Rob is a master when it comes to preparing cod.
Some sweets and wine are passed around and we all agree we are too tired for a campfire so our hosts walk us to the wharf where they see us off, keeping watch until we are safely back aboard. The almost full moon shining on the flat water makes our destination easier to find.
What a perfect day at Little Bay Islands. We sleep well knowing we have friends on shore.
