At Harbor Breton: 07 Aug – Cold Ice, Hot Soup, Warm Hospitality

Early Saturday I awoke to the sounds of fishing activity on the docks. All the hustle centered on “icing down” the fishing fleet to prepare for weeks of offshore work. George was the first person I met and minutes later we were off in his car to tour the village and its facilities. George (stowing ice in Trusty's hold, above right) and shipmates Silas and Roderick are crew on the Cape Island boat Trusty, and were preparing her while the skipper was away. Yet George still took time to give me a detailed look at his village, including many homes and large buildings his dad had constructed. It seemed that without George’s dad there would be few new buildings in Harbor Breton. It also seemed that Harbor Breton is growing and prosperous, with new construction, new medical and professional facilities, and a positive feeling.

Back on the dock “icing down” was proceeding on schedule, each boat being loaded with over 20,000 pounds of ice. Ice is trucked to the dock in large bins and poured into the ship’s hold with a chute (photo left). Crew members work to spread the ice into different compartments for different species. It’s physical work and no place for curious visitors so I stayed out of the way, enjoying the view from the bridge on Trusty (below).

While this was going on, Silas provided me with a tin of canned moose from the ship’s provisions. This is moose that he himself hunted and canned, and I am looking forward to a special occasion to enjoy it (are you reading this, Sonia?). Later George showed up at Kerry Deare with a tin of home-canned salmon and a fresh 5 pound trout (more about this special fish in the later entry on Francois). We were fully provisioned by now and when I visited the grocery there wasn’t much needed.

It was approaching lunch time so following Samantha’s earlier suggestion I headed to Sunny Cottage for Pea Soup (photo left). If you are like me you are wondering "why the fuss about pea soup?" For most of us this is a bland and often dreary item on the menu, but that’s not the case in Newfoundland. Pea Soup here is a Saturday specialty that combines special white peas, chunks of beef, a thick hearty broth, and large dumplings, all served in a very large soup bowl with bread and “fixings.” In a phrase, hard to beat (and few can handle seconds).

After lunch I moved the boat over to Elliot’s Wharf (photo left), a marina with additional facilities including a small museum, a playhouse, and an Internet Café. Thanks to the young women working there I did well. Judy and Britany attended to Kerry Deare’s needs and even read some of the musings on these pages (right photo) while I toured the museum to learn about local history and culture (below).

By late afternoon I’d already had a very full day, so an early dinner and early to bed was the choice, preparing for another town and another adventure tomorrow.