Our departure from Saint Pierre was a mixed blessing. We met wonderful people, such as Cedric, the waiter, who cringed when we asked if the crumble was made from pomme de terre. Or Enrique, the dockmaster, life-saving commandant and general authority on everything Saint Pierre. He was the New Brunswick wharffinger and then some. Or Robert Hardy, the manager of the fuel delivery company who supervised the recovery of our diesel fuel tanks and engines. Or Gary, his mechanic, who taught us how to bleed the fuel filters. Or the patisserie ladies who kept bringing out masterpieces from the back-room brick ovens. On the other hand, we had a close call with disaster thanks to some who will go unmentioned.
Our next leg was to Fortune, near Fortune Head on the Burin Peninsula. This was necessary to clear Customs back into Canada. Fortune Harbour shares in common with many places we will see on the southwest coast of Newfoundland an entrance that is like a small keyhole. But it is where many fishing boats reside as well as numerous ferry boats land, such as the one to Saint Pierre.
Here is the Saint Pierre ferry steaming back to Saint Pierre from Fortune. It kicks up a big wake!
And inside the harbor are lots of fishing boats.
and
These all seemed to be unused at this time of the year, waiting for a fishing season to start. Imagine having so much capital tied up in these boats and being unable to use them to earn a living!
Life in Fortune was thin for many.
After clearing Canadian Customs, we were allowed to move the boat a few hundred feet down the Customs wharf to where the dock was unfenced. Quickly, Brio attracted lots of attention, including Lauren. He was a nice fellow who insisted that he should drive us up the coast to Grand Banks and the nearby Soby's supermarket. Instead, we opted to resupply by going 100 yards up the street to Collins. That seemed to work for us, but maybe not for Lauren. He continued to hang around, trying to help us with this or that.
One of the best things we stumbled on in Fortune was just across the Customs dock from where we had tied up. It was the Fortune Geology Museum!! It was late enough in the season that all of the tour guides had gone back to school. In fact, we just missed the last tour to a local fossil outcrop that morning. But we had a good time touring the museum, seeing the many exhibits about the local geology and fossils, including displays on the late Pre-Cambrian and Cambrian fossils we mentioned in the geology post a few weeks ago.
The docent at the museum was unfamiliar with Four Billion Years and Counting, the book we referenced in our earlier geology post. She was excited to see it and immediately ordered copies for the museum.
The next day we bid adieu to Fortune and headed across Fortune Bay towards the Newfoundland southwest coast. On the way to Francois, we passed Burnette Island and started seeing spouts. After a few whale dives, we could spot the characteristic back fin of the minke.
Then on to Francois, which is located just to the west of "Hermitage Bay" on the coast.
More soon!
Cheers,
Brio
Comments