Down The Labrador
Harald is up during the night tending to the “squeaky” fenders, rubbing on the wharf. We are using our fender boards, but there is still, as he says, “a racket”.
It’s laundry and grocery day and we have been provided with the harbour master’s truck so errands are easier, especially in the rain showers. Logan joins us and is quite helpful at the grocery store. He didn’t know what rye bread was but asked and then found it in the freezer for me. We treat ourselves to some lovely brownies for upcoming desserts.
“Fast Freddy’s” takes our order of burgers and fries and suggests we return in 20 minutes to pick it up. I guess “do you want the works?”, doesn’t apply to the burger, but to the fries! Wow! Cheese, gravy, stuffing AND ground beef!
I use the wifi in the harbour master’s office while we eat our lunch and work at the laundry.
Harald chats with Kevin about our continued engine vibration and Kevin agrees to call someone on our behalf. James will come after work, maintaining highway construction equipment.
After our very late lunch, we are nowhere near ready for supper when James arrives about 6:20pm. Within minutes he declares there is too much “movement” of the engine on its mounts and I agree to sacrifice one of my kitchen cutting boards so he can build shims for under the mounts. (New mounts from 2018)
She’s purring like a kitten and James joins us for a cold beer and an hour of conversation. He has many family living in Kitchener-Waterloo! We will be sure to thank Kevin tomorrow for his recommendation.
The sun is making the odd appearance on Thursday and we have to leave this comfortable, hospitable place. There is a 400+ foot freighter coming in, carrying road salt, and she will need most of the wharf.
I sit in the harbour master’s office, working on this blog, where the wifi is available. Fishermen come by the boat and offer Harald some fresh cod and we take two, but then Kevin comes in with another he filleted for us. The fridge and larder are very full!
With the help of Kevin and Logan, and a couple of attempts to work with the wind, we are off the dock at 1:20 and heading out in the company of a fishing boat that quickly overtakes us, heading to the Northern Peninsula, and maybe beyond.
The cliffs are so green and even more stunning in this light, but we won’t be seeing the Point Amour Light this year. It is too far around the bend for the angle we are moving.
By 2:00pm we have both sails hoisted and we are sailing beam reach in 10-12 knots of wind off the port side, running about 6 knots. We are bundled up in the cool westerlyK” and allow the auto helm to take over this easy sail northeast.
We pass Pinware Bay and near Carrol Cove ice is very visible in the crevices where small streams fall down the side of the rock face and into the sea.
Some Northern Gannets fly along side - first we’ve seen this summer.
The sky is clearing at 5:00 when we lower the sails and motor past the Western Arm and past Saddle Island and its lighthouse. The old buildings that housed the keepers remain, but the original light has been replaced by a skeleton tower. The village of Red Bay is on the far shore and it is easy to find the wharf. The wind is strong so on our third attempt we snug in and then drag the boat back by hand to the inside corner.
The sign around the corner of the red building says the wharf is owned by the town and that we can only dock with permission. We notice the wharf rail is red, not yellow so we are a bit concerned about being told we can’t stay. I call the published phone number and speak with Linda, the deputy mayor. We can stay as long as we want, but must be gone by August 6 as a large cruise ship is expected the next day. (Apparently 9 cruise ships will be bringing visitors here this summer). Our stay is free of charge, but we also won’t have use of any shore power. If there isn’t enough sun for the solar panels, we will try out the new generator we brought for exactly this scenario.
A short walkabout is in order before the anticipated rain. We head up the road to find the restaurant closes at 7:00 and the Parks Canada Interpretive Centre is already closed. We will return tomorrow. The walk up the hill to the United Church gives us a spectacular view of the Harbour, the Basin and beyond.
We know there is intriguing history here, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as there is archeological evidence of humans living here as long as 8,000 years ago! We see some information boards explaining the history of the Basque Whalers from the 16th century, the importance of whale oil, two ship wrecks and whale bones so we are looking forward to learning more tomorrow.
In the meantime, we cook up the fresh cod fillets from Kevin and head to bed early.
Friday July 22 is dinghy and exploration day! The trail on the mainland behind Penney Island beckons. We also have to reinstall the lines in the dinghy davits so after bacon and egg breakfast we pack the backpack with camera, GoPro, some snacks, water and the bear spray.
It takes some time to get the dinghy down and the outboard attached but by 10:30 we are on our way passing the ruins of the fish plant at Penney Island and heading to shore. It takes awhile to find a place to land and to walk through the shore grass where we expect to find a path connecting to the Tracy Hill and Boney Shore Walking Trails.
The Boney Shore delivers as promised, where we find whale bones left by the Basque whalers from 500 years ago. It is a protected area and removal of the bones is prohibited. Not sure where we’d store one!
From the beach we walk back to where the two trails meet and start walking the 1.6km Tracy Hill Trail, which includes 689 steps. We are covered with long pants, shirts and windbreakers, with heads covered in mosquito netting. The black flies are aplenty! The information boards along the way explain what we are seeing and provide historic details and the higher we climb the east wind reduces the flies.
The ground on either side of the walkway is covered in white lichen, bunchberry and ripening cloud berry (bake apple). I am captivated by the tiny pink bells, only inches from the ground. ( my attempts to find its name are stymied even with the locals who tell me there are over 10,000 plant species here at Red Bay) UPDATE: Twinflowers as confirmed by Parks Canada staff on Monday)
The story of Captain Kidd’s buried treasure and the ghost of the headless crewman protecting it doesn’t keep us lingering at the Pond on the Hill.
The inspirational sayings along the way keep us climbing until we reach the summit and the American Man rock. The rock sits 500 feet above sea level and provides an amazing view including that of the Newfoundland shore. In the late 18th and early 19th century, American whalers used the location as a look-out for whales. Historically, the lookout was used during World War 2 by local residents recruited to report on any aircraft. Today it is still the vantage point to observe ships, ice floes, icebergs and migrating whales, seals and birds. But today, we are here just to enjoy the incredible view.
We see nothing to report so we head back down the stairs and boardwalk and walk along the shore back to the dinghy. The tide has come in but the walking is easy along the rocks. The ride back is speedy and we immediately head to the Whaler’s Restaurant for tea and partridge berry pie - our just reward after walking 13,500 steps - some of them straight UP!
A bus tour along with other tourists visit the restaurant and we hear a couple say they are from Ottawa, Ontario. We call them over and enjoy a lengthy conversation. They left their motor home in Port au Choix and have driven their car across to visit Labrador for a couple of days. They lived in Cornwall for a few years, where she taught French - she doesn’t remember any Amanda Montroy - her loss.
From here we cross the parking lot to the Parks Canada Interpretive Centre where we are greeted by the very knowledgeable staff. The story is fascinating!
Selma Barkham was visiting Spain with her husband when an elderly priest told her of Basque whaling expeditions to this area. After losing her husband, Selma moved to Mexico to learn Spanish so she could begin her research into these expeditions and to translate the thousands of documents in the Basque and Spanish archives. These even included an insurance claim for the theft of a whale 500 years ago and the court case that went on over 40 years!
In 1977 Selma was surveying Labrador’s south coast when she found large quantities of clay tiles - the tile fragments of the clay used by the Basques in roof construction in Red Bay. It was more than 14 years later, and with the help of Dr. James Tuck, that the remains of numerous structures and a Basque burial ground were located. Artifacts including barrel pieces, tools, earthenware, glassware, clothing and other personal items can be seen in the glass cases at the interpretive centre.
The sinking and discovery of the San Juan and the story boards depicting the importance and value of whale oil and how the blubber was harvested are easy to understand and extremely interesting.
Included in our admission is a short boat ride across to Saddle Island where you can walk the area, see the houses used by the previous lighthouse keepers and get picked up an hour later. We have missed the last ride of the day but our ticket is good for tomorrow, if we wish to take advantage of the offering.
Back at the boat we spend an hour trying to sort out the davit lines and are visited by a lovely red jelly fish. Supper is sloppy joes and bed calls us early. This has been an educational and physically exhausting day. We go to bed believing we will leave in the morning.
Red Bay fishermen aboard Dr. Wilfred Grenfell’s mission ship, Alfred, 1894 during his 5 day visit at the end of his first season tending to patients along the Labrador coast. He and his supporters later established the first Fishermen’s Cooperative in Red Bay in 1896.