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1845 Friday, August 11, 2023
By 0610 this morning we had hauled up our plow anchor, deeply caked in sticky mud from being buried during the storm of the last day. We motored out of our protected cove in Maiden Arm into a roiling, confused sea left from the big blow. The day was comprised of some sailing, some motor sailing, fog and cloudy skies. The sea seemed busy with fulmars, sooty shearwaters, greater shearwaters, murres, puffins, storm petrels, herring gulls, terns and others, includinga few whales and dolphins.
We covered close to 45 miles and sighted a white headland with a small light on the end of Englee Island. We turned north around the island and made our way into charming Englee Harbour. This region is far more populated than Labrador and Englee is an old fishing outport that is still making a go of it with a population of around 500.
The days of going out in small trap skiffs to tend cod traps are long gone since 1992. However, these days a fair number of larger boats head offshore for crab and other fish. There is still a very small commercial quota for cod; the photo above shows some cod being offloaded from the boat behind us on the wharf.
The other photos below give you a feel for this lovely and friendly community. JJ paused to have a wharfside chat with a local gentleman who grew up here as one of 15 children. It was common for many outport families to have numerous children. Today the town retains some of its old character and color, still an active fishing community, hoping to hang on. I like the photo below of the three fellows out for the evening in a skiff.
JJ and I capped off our evening with a fried chicken dinner at Michelle's Convenience Store, the only eatery in town; the photo at the bottom captures our evening meal.
Tomorrow is threatening to start with a 25 knot southeaster, dead on the nose for a 50 mile run to La Scie.
Bill
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