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2030 Wednesday, August 31, 2023
Today was a sailor's lay day for David and I here in St. Lawrence. Last night the winds continued to whistle through the rig while rains fell like Niagara Falls. This morning the winds and rain persisted. Finally, by mid afternoon, the rain let up and the wind began to shift clockwise into the north, along with a drop in temperature. We spent the night and the wet, windy morning below deck, still tied to the red fishing boat, Midnight Stalker. (see photo above)
When the weather improved in the afternoon, we took a long, meandering walk about the town of St. Lawrence. Like many Newfoundland towns, cod fishing was a way of life. Although, in November of 1929, a collapse of part of the continental shelf 250 miles offshore caused a tsunami that destroyed all the fishing stages, boats, gear and stored fish in town. Some homes were washed into the sea - one iconic headline and photo of a schooner rescuing a house is in the photos below. It also destroyed parts of the area's marine environment that caused capelin and cod to not return for many years. The community was on hard times until mining began around 1970. Now, the mine may be shut down again.
Fishing did begin again as well. Today, around the harbor, one can see a number of fairly traditional, small fishing stages (small docks with little fishing buildings) that give the town a classic outport feel. A variety of fishing boats, small and large operate out of St. Lawrence today.
I rather like the feel of the town. The harbor also has two dramatic headlands at the entrance, the larger one called Cape Chapeau Rouge, as shown in the last photo below. Tomorrow morning at 0600 we hope to be headed out between the two headlands for the remaining 380 mile passage to Halifax, Nova Scotia. By morning the 13-foot seas and heavy winds should have abated to something both reasonable and helpful to begin crossing the Cabot Strait.
Bill
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