Patience and Goodbyes
The next two weeks are filled with much interaction with many helpful people and some road trips, exploring more of what this incredible province has to offer.
Our first projects start Sunday June 26. It is quiet at the marine centre so we begin with some of the chores we can complete on our own:
Scrubbed mildew from main cabin, washed some linens that weren’t 100% dry in the fall when we stored them. (Make sure even the binoculars are stored in bins this year!)
Vacuumed and aired cushions
Checked batteries and plugged into shore power
Cleaned fridge and got it cold for the groceries
Cleaned gravel dust from windows
The mechanic we had referred to us, is not returning our calls but when we have lunch at the Snack Shack on Monday, Colleen calls Eric, a retired mechanic. He’ll be here at 11:00 the following day.
Eric is the friendliest and most willing to help! He and Harald work together off and on for the next week. The communication is interesting, to say the least.
We have come to learn, the help will eventually come without even the promise of service that you get from Rogers, “between 10:00 and 2:00”. Here, there is no real coordination, it is just “tomorrow”. So it was no surprise that after waiting a few times for help, it all arrived at the same time.
Eric removes the prop shaft and, with Harald, took the muffler out from under the stairs to access the bolts for the new strut. We delivered the shaft to Frank and had it straightened, slightly.
Frank and his wife, Marjorie, live in a lovely home in Port aux Choix with beautiful gardens surrounding the property. The piece de résistance being the very large wooden hull laying slightly to port in the back garden. The old structure is filled with wild flowers. We have a marvellous chat while Marjorie takes me to all of the various gardens, including a vegetable garden which she starts from seed in the little sunroom beside the house.
This is why the vegetables in the grocery store are old and expensive - people grow their own. The store stock is just for people like us.
After four nights at the Sea Echo motel, we move onboard Wednesday afternoon. As we aren’t very organized yet, we head back to Port aux Choix for dinner at the Anchor Cafe. There are new owners since last year; nothing has changed except some menu items. We are glad to see it did not have to close.
A trip out to Pointe Roche lighthouse doesn’t disappoint, as we find a lovely night sky and two caribou grazing beside the road.
Harald and Eric tended to some leaking windows and I unpacked clothes and organized the food and aft cabin storage.
July 1, “Happy Canada Day”….we install the enclosure and then head out for a day “off” and away. Lunch is a shared seafood chowder and grilled ham and cheese at the Viking 430 at Castor’s River.
We visit some of the smaller communities along the shore, researching anchorages and ending at Flower’s Cove where we walk on the thrombolites.
We can clearly see the lighthouse at Amour Point across the Strait of Belle Isle. It is calling us!
We end the day back at the boat for Canada Day supper of burgers, potato salad and coleslaw. Fresh strawberries for dessert and a marvellous fireworks display, sponsored by individuals from the community.
The end of a lovely day.
The following day the news is filled with conversation around the 30th anniversary of the cod moratorium, something still as fresh in the minds of the fishermen, wharf and fish plant workers today as it was 30 years ago.
A brief synopsis, if you aren’t familiar: “On July 2, 1992, the federal government banned cod fishing along Canada’s east coast. This moratorium ended nearly 5 centuries (500 years!) of cod fishing in Newfoundland and Labrador. Cod had played a central role in the province’s economy and culture.
The aim of the policy was to help restore cod stocks that had been depleted due to overfishing. Today, the cod population remains too low to support a full-scale fishery.” (The Canadian Encyclopedia, August 6, 2020, David Berry)
This ended the livelihood for thousands of people and many families accepted the government support to relocate to larger centres. This is why there are so many abandoned communities along the shores of both Newfoundland and Labrador.
Conversations with anyone we meet eventually get around to the shrimp fishery, which is not yet opened for the season, many boats still on the hard or at the dock. The fishermen and the fish plants cannot agree on a price for the shrimp. The increased price of fuel is not helping with the bottom line but some boats are taking their catch from northern Newfoundland to Nova Scotia to sell to fish plants there. Yet, at every village we pass along the coast, there is a wharf and fish plant, most of them empty with unused equipment scattered throughout the wharf area.
The fisheries are so very important to these people…without them, they have nothing, as I was told by many who remember when fishing was their life and their economy was booming.
We paint the bottom of the boat, Harald sands and varnishes the boards for the companionway and gets lifted 50 feet in the basket of a boom truck, to install our replacement wind instrument. I drive to Savage Cove to have the outboard for the dinghy checked over and enjoy 3 hours off the boat and alone in the car. (Seems almost like my working days, except the scenery is more delightful.)
Washrooms with showers and laundry are available on the wharf and the grocery stores are just 10 minutes away. Life at the wharf is becoming “normal” for us as we make use of the amenities available. I take pleasure in my drives to the stores as the view from atop the hill in Port Saunders and of the cove across the road from the Foodland are breathtaking.
My frequent stops in the office of the marine centre for wifi, when it’s raining and I can’t work at the picnic table, usually include long conversations with Dana and Marie who seem to enjoy them as much as I do. Dana so kindly gifted me a jar of her canned beets, jars of blueberry/partridge berry jam and apple/partridge berry jam and a pair of hand knit slippers! I am grateful for the gifts and the budding friendship.
Back to the boat and the repairs: Mechanic Larry removes the muffler (a second time) as he spots some putty where there shouldn’t be any. He pressure tests it and finds there are some leaks…we believe this to be the source of the water we had coming through the wall in the bathroom at the end of our journey last fall. BINGO!
We are getting a lot of rain so some work doesn’t proceed. Our goal was to depart Port Saunders July 8, but between the weather and the work, this will be delayed. We know we can amend our plans and shave off destinations if necessary. We will just be happy to be in the water and heading somewhere.
The sails are installed on Friday July 8 and we decide to “go away” for the weekend. We make the four hour drive to Robert’s Arm, hydroplaning in the rain and trying to avoid potholes - all we are not accustomed to. We have come to look at a house we are interested in buying, but the timing is not quite right for us.
The Robert’s Arm Motel offers very cozy cabins with full kitchen and comfortable beds. The cleanest motel I have ever stayed in!
The rain ends on Saturday night and Sunday dawns bright and warm. We take in the hiking trail at Crescent Lake and keep an eye out for “Cressie, the Monster of Crescent Lake”, last seen in the summer of 2020.
We are on our way again, for the 4 hour drive back “home”, with a stop for a late lunch at the Deer Lake Motel and groceries where we find Dijon mustard for the first time! But many shelves are empty after a rush of shoppers on this, the first day of the town’s “Come Home Year” week of celebrations.
The beauty of Gros Morne is enjoyed one more time as we drive north.
The following week will be our last in Port Saunders - we are getting excited but also know we will miss this place and the people with whom we have shared many stories and numerous laughs. Who will Ambrose say “hello neighbour” to in coming days? We will miss his end-of-work-day conversations just before he closes the back door at 4:59, wishing us a good night.
Larry has completed the pressure test on the muffler and we arrange for him to return it near the end of the day on July 13, the same day we have been invited to a turkey dinner at Dana’s house with her family. Larry delivers as promised and we are not late for our dinner at a real house with a real family. The evening is so enjoyable as we share the meal and stories of our adventures, but also learn all about Dana’s husband’s work driving truck at the mine in “Baffin Land”.
The following day I spend doing lots of laundry, the last grocery shop and Harald fills the water and changes the transmission fluid. Final jobs: scrubbing the cockpit and dinghy.
Friday July 15 is a warm and sunny day and the bay is “flat arse cam”, according to Ambrose. He helps Harald get the outboard on the back rail just before his brother arrives with the travel lift. We can’t believe the time to launch has finally arrived!
I make a quick run to Port aux Choix to grab some souvenirs and gifts and when I return, the cradle is empty and demolished and Seabiscuit is in the water! Ambrose helps us get the dinghy on the davits and Carolyn and Cheryl arrive just as we finish the last of the launch chores. We are thrilled they have arrived in time to see us off AND they are wearing the “Seabiscuit Support Crew” t-shirts we gave them.
Photos are taken and goodbyes shared with the marine centre staff, with the promise we will visit next summer. Carolyn and Cheryl wave as we exit the slip and go about the business of packing up the wood from the cradle before heading home.
Our departure is a bit anticlimactic though, as not far out the bay we discover too much water is coming in the stuffing box, so we return to the wharf and Ambrose willingly comes aboard and makes the final adjustment. It is late now and we are already exhausted so we head across from the marine centre wharf to Gobineau Bay for a quiet night at anchor. A different view of Port Saunders, our home for so many weeks. Until we meet again.
