Harrington Harbour
Monday August 16 to Thursday August 19 (Might want to boil the kettle for this one)
Our first view of Harrington Harbour, on Quebec’s Lower North Shore, comes about 3:30 Monday, as we pass between Entry and Schooner Islands. This is well marked with a range - if the ferry can do it, I can do it!
Arriving at the wharf at 4:00, help arrives before we land. Harald scales the 5 foot ladder and with “Paul”, who clearly knows how to secure a boat to the wharf, gets us tied to our first shore in four days.
Within 5 minutes two ATVs arrive and “Gerry” and his friend ask the usual questions and to offer assistance if needed. We already feel we are in a special place.
The need to understand French has now passed, left behind somewhere after Natashquan. This is an English-speaking community, with the first settlers having come from Newfoundland to fish, with some later making it their home. I should mention though, that people have been coming here for 8000 years, attracted to the rich hunting and fishing opportunities. These include the Maritime Archaic, known today as the Innu. Later, the Basque whalers came from France and Spain.
Harald shares our engine, fridge and overflow pump woes and they all agree that “Craig” is the man we need to see. “That’s his house right there.” But we don’t need to go to his house or look for him because “Gerry” will do it for us…and he is off!
Paul arranges for us to get ice for our out-of-commission fridge so when Harald goes to the fish plant for the ice, I start tossing food into a garbage bag. The fish plant closed last week so sadly we will be without fresh fish, but they still have ice and will permit us to use the small washroom while the building is open during the day.
The two grocery stores close at 6:00, but open again later in the evening. (They also close over the lunch hour when it is rare to see any person outside of their home - so civilized.) We head down the wharf with our little buggy and make our way down the boardwalk/granite “sidewalks”.
In both stores you can buy anything from paint, screws, clothing, craft supplies, eggs, frozen meat and dry goods. We find enough to get us by until the fridge is fixed, but many things are near expired dates and few items are priced. I ask about the bread which has a best before date of August 19, and am told it has been frozen.
All of the food coming in on the Bella Desgagnes twice a week goes straight to the freezers, except for the packaged dry goods and fresh produce. None of it being very fresh.
After groceries we start our search for a place to run some laundry. We now have a full hamper in the head and a bag of sheets in the aft cabin. Not desperate yet, but dirty laundry takes up space!
Originally we were hoping to get to Amy Evans Boarding House, as suggested in my notes, for showers and laundry. There we had hoped to have a cooked meal, (cooked by someone else) laundry facilities and maybe even a hot bath and room for the night. Amy Evans closed a few years ago according to our welcoming committee. They did however suggest we try the two BnBs in town.
Visiting “Seduction” we are told she has no guests for a few days as she is heading out of town in the morning. She did offer to run some laundry but we still had the fridge cleaning and restocking to complete and dark was setting in. We declined and went to “Jean’s BnB” behind the church. She said she had no rooms as they were occupied by the construction workers and that they do their own laundry. Another dead end….we can manage…but would have been a nice treat.
On our walk we see enough of the town to know we want to explore further tomorrow, while we wait for Craig to finish his work as maintenance manager at the fish plant and to start his work for us.
Tai chicken for supper with basmati rice but only after we are visited by a young couple who stay and chat for an hour.
We learn a lot about life on the island as he was born and raised here, and she came from Newfoundland as a young girl. They both work at the seniors’ home which has 14 beds, all full. Winter is a favourite time here, as all residents own snowmobiles and enjoy heading to other communities on the Winter Road as the way from the island to the mainland becomes an ice highway.
In the summer there is a water taxi to Chevry and a helicopter that is usually used for medical air lifts. The helicopter takes people to Chevry where there is an airstrip from where people would be flown to Sept I’les (“Seven Islands”) or Blanc Sablon. It cost this couple $600 to have their cat taken to the vet in Sept I’le!
The school here only goes to grade 8 so students continuing on attend high school in Chevry. In years gone by, these students would be boarded in other communities for those school years. (13 seems very young to be leaving home)
They leave us to prepare our dinner after we are all swarmed by mosquitoes: enclosure zipped up and in for the night. Off to bed with ice in the fridge, a fresh supply of milk, eggs, bread and cold beer.
Other fun facts (or fables) we learn as we tour the town the following day:
Population is about 270.
Last baby born 3 years ago
The Ransoms and the Coxes are the founding fathers and principal families within the community. So many people are cousins!
Many names become familiar during our stay: Cox, Ransom, Bobbitt, Rowsell, Jones and Bryan
The filming of the movie “Seducing Dr. Lewis” put this town on the map.
There are 24 commercial fishing boats calling this port home
The fish plant processes lobster, crab, halibut and cod until mid-August. (We missed the fresh fish by one week.)
The Quebec Labrador Foundation built a small swimming pool so the area children can learn to swim.
We also found the boards framing a hockey/skating rink. Bobby Orr took a liking to this community and spent many hours teaching the local children to play hockey
The Rowsell House Interpretation Centre is located in one of the first homes built on the island. We enjoyed our visit, with Keith Rowsell and his daughter providing the detailed history and interpretation of the many information panels and artifacts. We were very happy to learn they are in possession of the largest collection of Dr. Grenfell books anywhere.
Dr. Wilfred Grenfell, the famous medical missionary, served the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in the late 1800’s from the Strathcona 2 and his first hospital was established here in 1907. (My great aunt was a nurse on a Grenfell hospital boat so this was of particular interest to me.) Dr. Grenfell is remembered not just for his healthcare but also for establishing orphanages, schools and the co-ops that finally brought some fair trade to the fishermen along this shore and further along the Labrador shore. He introduced a cottage craft industry, with the women hooking rugs and making parkas, along with the rest of their daily routines of helping with the fish and running a household. Their crafts, though, provided some income then and are still coveted across North America today.
Marguerite’s Cave brings a very interesting story to life, as Richard explains the story of Marguerite de la Roque, the young relative of mariner Sieur de Roberval Jean Francois de la Roque. She accompanied him onboard his ship in 1542 sailing from France to the new colony of Quebec, when, it is said, she fell in love with one of the crew. She became pregnant and the infuriated Roberval sent her and her maid to shore, with her beloved later jumping ship and joining them in what is believed to be Harrington Harbour. Seeking shelter in a cave, they ate plants and small animals but after a cruel winter Marguerite was the lone survivor. She was then rescued by passing fishermen and returned to France, where it is believed she lived the rest of her life as a teacher. Keith Rowsell explains how they are certain this is the accurate location of the cave she survived in, as there is some dispute it all occurred elsewhere. I look forward to investigating the tale further once home.
I later learned there are Chevaliers buried in this graveyard.
After a quick stop for some meat at the grocery store, we are back at the boat in time for Craig’s arrival at 5:00. He spends two and a half hours with us, fixing our fridge and a few other electrical concerns.
We learn more about the area: seal hunting, fishing and who’s who in town over a cold drink before Craig heads home. He promises to return tomorrow after work.
The following day becomes one of happenstance and the foundation of great memories.
We are visited by “Caroline” one of the French rowers who have travelled in a 20 foot “canoe” from Kegaska, camping along the shore each night. These adventurers arrived in Harrington the day after we did but Caroline has now come to discover us so we engage in shared stories of our journeys. She and her rowing partner will leave tomorrow on the Bella.
Later, on a walk to visit their camp, we come across her chatting with a local lady outside her home on the far east side of the island. She waves us down and we say “hello” to Jim and Sharon, the residents of a lovely old, but refurbished two storey frame home. Jim invites us down to the granite shore to see his beloved Morning Star, a two masted ketch now parked on the hard with a closed in cockpit. He explains it is now their “spare bedroom” for guests.
We chat about various things including the weather and the fact that no forecast has been accurate in recent weeks, especially the lack of south west wind. Harald relays the story of our passing Cape Whittle, which we had dreaded due to the weather details we had read of the area. I mention I had read Charles Townsend’s “In Audubon’s Labrador” and that my great aunt was a nurse on a Grenfell mission schooner. He says, “my wife would like to hear that. She was a Grenfell nurse here until she retired.”
Next, the shock we both feel when I mention I am hoping to find some relatives in Riviere Saint Paul and Jim asks me what the family name is I am looking for, gives me goosebumps.
We discover we are both descendants of Louis David Chevalier: my great great grandfather and Jim’s great grandfather. We later determine I am also related Sharon as they can trace their combined roots back to Chevalier, born in 1829.
What are the chances! I believe this is a small world and you only discover how connected you are once you engage in conversation with people you happen to meet along the way.
Jim and Sharon Ransom opened their home and we shared lunch and heritage excitement!
Soon we are all enjoying a tasty homemade soup, cheese and crackers, tea and homemade Christmas cake, the way my Grandma Chevalier used to make it. We sit around the dining room table in the Ransom home, filled with memorabilia of their lives and this area they have called home since moving into Jim’s mother’s 96 year old home just sixteen years ago.
Jim and Sharon share their family heritage website with me and I am happy to provide some more names and dates for my family included in their history. It is when Jim shows me photos, of which I have copies on the boat, that the thrill of this discovery becomes so very real. (I would like to thank my Aunt Laurie Chevalier for all the hours she spent compiling our family history. She had been in contact with Jim and Sharon, providing some needed information for their heritage site.)
Jim produced photos of my aunt and uncle and my five cousins - that brought on some strange feelings of familiarity.
We promised to stay in touch and head to Seabiscuit as they would like to see our home-away-from-home. Sharon and I look over the heritage documents I have now been carrying for nine weeks and Jim gets involved in a repair of the deck wash pump switch along with Harald and Craig.
We say our goodbyes and I head to the grocery store for some things needed for our supper. Craig has repaired the fridge so I am happy to have it freshly stocked. He declines our invitation to stay for supper as he has a prior family engagement, but we devour our fully loaded nachos reflecting on what a spectacular day this has been.
Rowsell House Museum
Trail to Marguerite’s Cave. Not safe..
Harrington Harbour
