Wild Horses On The Run The seas have settled down, and I'm up early to catch the sunrise along with coffee on the deck. I spend some time on the bridge with the Captain as he manoeuvres the Clipper to find a place to drop anchor. It's a slow day, by comparison, we're visiting Cox's Cove, and the mayor is also one of the musicians on board. Tony is an interesting fellow, he quit his day job as a school principal, to pursue his musical career. Which gives him many points in my book!  He also watches Al Jazeera for his world news, something we have in common.

We're stopping first in Brake's Bay, which was a small outpost community whose residents were forced to leave in the late 60s by the Smallwood government. Many residents of Cox's Cove were born there, or have family who used to live there. They've maintained summer homes, and continue to take care of the horses and cows that have been left. Like most Newfoundland communities, it was split down religious lines, and it seems strange that a small community of 20 homes would have both Catholic and Protestant graveyards.

The summer residents have a large fire on the beach, with hot dogs and marshmallows to roast, they've opened the houses with coffee on, and stories to tell. I thought that the ship's coffee was strong, but I'm quickly looking for some warm water to dilute mine! I see Paul, my personal geologist, poking around at the end of the beach, so I head off for my daily geology lesson. More very cool rocks, too bad I can't haul any back for the Spindrift garden! It's quiet, and there are groups of us all over... three of us are up on the hillside, photographing the six horses running free when we hear the ships whistle sound and we're being waved back to the beach.

By now, the 100 plus passengers are starting to get to know each other, and we're shocked when one of us, Mike, falls off the log by the beach fire. I didn't get to know him that well, other than to say hi on the way to the dining room, or to give him a hand getting into or out of a Zodiac. In a very short time, we're heading back to the Clipper as the staff begins CPR, and the doctor and EMTs from Cox's Cove arrive by boat. They weren't able to revive him, after two hours of CPR while they transferred him to the hospital in Cox's Cove.

Mike was fighting Huntington's Disease and had always wanted to visit Newfoundland. He was sitting in the sun, and he passed as a result of a heart attack. A lesson for the rest of us about strength, but also to not put off those many things we want to accomplish.

Story Time We head to Cox's Cove early, but somewhat subdued. The whole community is out to greet us. No buses here, Tony has arranged for anyone with a vehicle that holds 4 plus a driver to pick up passengers and tour them about town. Kath and I join up with one of the firefighters who responded in the morning. So I get a tour of the Firehall as well. We visit some amazing waterfalls, and finally some fall leaves! We pass on the mink farm, I know what they smell like! But that is also an interesting story, the town took over the local fish plant, worked on creating a food source from the fish offal, and attracted a Russian furrier to the area. They now feed the food to 50,000 mink, keeping their waters clean and employing another 10 folks full time.

This day is just another example of Newfoundland hospitality, after the tour, the Lion's Club has arranged for more food and drink. Tony plays a set, along with more local musicians, more scuffing and some Newfoundland street poetry. Some folks get "screeched in" I volunteer to kiss the cod, but the rum runs out! A group of townspeople and AC staff take Mike's wife to Cornerbrook and help her with the arrangements to return to Powell River.

It's been a very long day and one that has had its highs and lows. The mood on the Clipper is very pensive, there's not much going on as we head to the South Coast, and back to some rough seas.

Photos
All the wild horses in the sun...
Tony Oxford gives a little history lesson about the forced resettlement of many Newfoundland communities.
Finally, real wooden east coast dories! Tony jokes that his Council passed a bylaw that made fibreglass dories illegal!

High and Dry #3
Storm clouds pass...
 
 
The Study It's a long run from Cox's Cove to Garia Bay, and as we head East along the Southern Coast of Newfoundland, we hit the wind and waves. By now, those of us in the forward cabins have figured out that when we can hear the anchor, the Captain is not having any fun on the bridge! We're heading into Garia Bay, for a day of exploring the shore. Most folks are still feeling the shock of yesterday, so it's looking like it's going to be a quiet day.

While all these expeditions to shore have been going on, Matthew Sr. has also been holding many of the social events on the Clipper, from live music to a series of contests among the passengers. I think he grew up with Mr Dressup, he seems to have trunks of crazy clothes on board. I'm looking forward to the "Design your own Scotch Label", because he's opening the bar on his dime to sample the Scotch, and him being Scottish, it's all good stuff! He announced in the morning that he found his Hank Snow's Greatest Hits CD when he cleaned up his cabin, so there is an impromptu Dance and Barbecue on the deck at lunch. He's also arranged for a soccer game in Ramea, against the local high school soccer team. A game that the ship has never won. His new strategy is to rename the boat's team, adding O at the end of your name (Princeo), and he's handed out headbands that have a long ponytail attached. This makes us all look like Renaldo, and the logic goes, we'll score more goals. He discovers that the ship's photographer has played goal, so I'm now the official sports photographer. This stuff goes on for days, and at the last minute, we find out that we're scheduled to play a slow pitch game following the soccer match.

We sail into Garia Bay as the sun is coming up, I'm up for a coffee on the bridge, I enjoy watching the Captain manoeuvre the Clipper into these small places. She drafts 4.5 meters, so he's able to cut into places closer to shore. Off go the Zodiacs to find a few landing places, and to check in with the residents in the two homes at the head of the Bay. As we're gearing up for the barbecue, the skies open up, and the wind whips up the waves. No barbecue on the deck today!

It's the diehards who head ashore, and as we land, the skies turn blue, and the sun reappears. Where we've landed is a rocky point, so I'm hanging with Paul, the geologist. We find a large quartz rock that slides into the ocean, it looks like glass, it's so clear, with a few scrapes along the surface. Evidence of a glacier after all these years. We're on shore for 4 hours, folks are just lying about in the sun. We go off on a shooting expedition with Mike Beedell, the official photographer. One day, I'll have my images up on a website.

As the sun sets, we head back to the Clipper. I get into Dave's Zodiac, and he ignores the "head right back to the ship" instructions to take a few of us to the far side of the bay, there's an interesting rock formation there, and the light is perfect! As we look back, two other Zodiacs head over as well, so there's a few of us who are ignoring orders. There's an evening of music with Tony and company, but most of us head to the cabins early.

Rocked

Photos:
One of our new friends spends the afternoon painting onshore
Rocks seem to have taken over my interest, and Garia Bay is loaded with them. Some of the quartz intrusions onshore

http://www.mikebeedellphoto.ca/