9/1 - Grand Bruit to Ramea

Wednesday- Light fog gives way to bright sunny skies with puffy clouds.

Ann writes:

We saw some people in Grand Bruit today- a fisherman from La Pool brought 2 electric workers to hook up the crane and bait station for fishing. They said 5 houses still have service. One home, the Parsons which stands apart, is owned by a lady from New York. This little village needs a Rockefeller!

The fisherman told Jon that it had just gotten too difficult for the elderly residents- children had married outsiders from bigger towns and moved on- they had to give it up.

We took one more walk up to the bridge and I counted the cascades in the waterfall as we walked back down. Devilish hard to paint it; I would pick a complex w'fall to paint for my first attempt! The little birds teased me trying to photo them. Maybe a kinglet and some kind of sparrow.

Departed around 10:40, but later we got cell coverage and discovered that Newfoundland is 30 minutes ahead of Atlantic time. We were sailing almost right away; I'll let Jon give the results. It was a pretty approach- a candy stiped Lighthouse greeted us and we slipped past Muddy Harbour with rugged rocks topped with green grasses failrly close to the channel. We were tied up by about 5:30.

Approaching Ramea- Northwest Head Lighthouse

We were happy to see that the Eastern Outfitter is still open. Our cruising guide is 7 years old, so we don't really know what to expect. Many businesses mentioned have been shuttered. I got a recommendation for the Scotsburn Moon Mist icecream which was "to die for" and it was, but not in the way that she meant;-(note to self: my tastebuds are very different than the locals'.)

We paid $2.50 for 30 minutes wireless internet, but it didn't work very well, even inside their building. Jon came back out to join me on the nearby dock and we were witness to a wonderful cultural habit; the men of the town started appearing and began to converse by the boat ramp on this beautiful evening. It was wonderful to hear them talk; when they spoke to each other we could barely comprehend what they were saying. They could clean it up a bit when they spoke to us. One fellow has 10 children, another 5, but they've all moved away and this town is dying too.

Our "grilling steaks" turned out great despite Jon's wanting to redesign the BBQ; my smashed potatoes were better too.

Jon writes:

We bid goodbye to Grand Bruit and, with an eye on the approaching hurricane Earl, decided to move east more rapidly to get out of his projected path. After about an hour motoring enough wind filled in from the southwest to shut the motor off and we were able to sail for about 5 hours, the wind finally dying to near nothing about 8 miles out of Ramea.

Ship Cove, Ramea

The islands of Ramea lie about 5 miles off of the south coast of Newfoundland, the two main islands have a narrow channel between them with two harbors. The larger one is Ship Cove, around which the town is built. They have refurbished the fish processing plant wharf for the use of transient boats, but the ruins of the plant are still there and you wind through them on the short walk into the village. In the center of town we found Eastern Outfitters, a kayak renting, lunch counter, youth hostile, and internet cafe combined into one building. Like everywhere in Newfoundland, everyone is as friendly as could be. And like everywhere else in Newfoundland, the food is all deep fried.

The next morning we left early for the 65 mile run to Harbor Breton, where I proposed to sit out the passage of Earl.

'Anomaly' is currently lying Ship Cove, Ramea, Newfoundland