Today there is a sturdy red lighthouse and keepers cottage on the windswept point off the small outport of Ferryland. In 1621 Lord Baltimore sent a small group of men to establish the Colony of Avalon here on what is now known as the Avalon Peninsula. That settlement is about halfway between present day St. John’s and Cape Race in precisely the spot that is known as Ferryland today. It would be some of the early beginnings of the British Empire. Today, the archaeological dig at Ferryland is probably about the best preserved, early British colonial site in Canada. There is a small museum here filled with astonishing artifacts from clay pipes to the first British coins minted in North America.

Today it is easy to see why Ferryland was selected as the site for the Colony of Avalon. In the photo above “the Pool” is the harbor to the right of the isthmus of land, with a curl of land creating a protected spot. The harbor is entered from the right side of the photo through a narrow channel between offlying islands. The narrow channel with surrounding high lands made it an easily defensible position. However, the real riches here were the abundant fishing grounds for cod. Better still, the shore based fishery that was growing in this “New Found Land” used a method of salting cod, followed by rinsing it and then drying it in the sun to prepare it for shipment to Europe. Instead of building extensive fish flakes for drying the cod, Ferryland provided a natural spot for drying the fish. On the left side of the photo above there is an ocean facing beach composed of rounded stones.

This type of beach was the perfect solution for sun drying the catch. Sand beaches would get sand grains in the fish. But, the natural, rounded stones allowed the fish to stay clean while air could circulate on both side of the split cod on the beach. Indeed, some other early settlements were also chosen because of their adjacent round, stone beaches, perfect for preparing the cod for the voyage across the Atlantic. Sometimes nature supplies much of what you need, a protected harbor, easily defended and a beach to hasten the curing of cod. Today there humpback whales and gannets feeding in the waters off the stone beach.

I visited the machine shop that has my engine this morning. I am frustrated with the delays. They seem to think the remaining parts should arrive in the next day or so. I have asked for a tracking number on the shipment - they have not gotten that info to me yet. I have pressed Jesse, the mechanic, to also look into the shipment. Arrgh...

My apologies for not getting an email out yesterday.

Bill

Tazzarin's Whale & Iceberg logo design by Emily Dove