I had never visited Newfoundland....in spite
of living next door in Nova Scotia for the past 28 years.
Regardless of my good intentions, the opportunity to go just
never seemed to present itself until recently when my eldest
son Chris moved to "The Rock" with the Royal bank
in Corner Brook. He, his wife Cindy and daughters Andrea and
Samantha had settled nicely into their new home but all were
anxious to have visitors from home.
So, when Chris called to extend his best wishes
for my birthday he urged me to come over for a visit as soon
as possible because "the longer you wait the worse the
weather gets" he said ominously. He couldn't have been
more right! We waited....and the weather got worse... just
like he said it would!
We decided to wait until our summer season had died down enough
to allow us to get away-the 14th of October seemed like an
appropriate date...the weekend after Thanksgiving....the tourist
season usually drops off dramatically after Thanksgiving weekend.
So we set off for the Ferry to Port au Basques which was scheduled
to leave North Sydney, N.S. at 11:30 on Thursday morning.
At one of our stops on the way there we happened
to strike up a conversation with a couple who, upon hearing
that we were heading for the Newfoundland Ferry, offered us
12-hour sea-sickness pills and Gravol "just in case you
run into rough weather"!!!! Another ominous prediction
indeed....which did nothing to allay our anxiety about the
five to six hour crossing ahead of us.
At another stop closer to the Ferry the elderly shopkeeper
offered a heartfelt "Oh dear!"upon hearing that we were scheduled
to board the Ferry that morning. We should have taken these warnings to
heart and turned back....but ignorance is bliss...we continued our journey
with an increasing sense of high adventure mixed with foreboding.
We arrived at the Ferry Terminal in North Sydney dutifully one hour before
scheduled departure time only to be told that the sailing would be delayed
by one hour because the crew had to "double lash down" all vehicles
because of impending rough weather. Upon hearing this encourageing news
we promptly swallowed the two 12-hour sea-sickness pills our new-found
friends had given us. Bring on the rough seas - - - - We were ready for
anything now!!. Well, we waited in an endless line of cars, trucks, campers
and 18-wheelers for the signal to begin boarding. We waited, and waited,
and waited....all the while the weather was getting worse....rain and
wind lashing down keeping us confined to our car, wondering what was going
on.
After three hours of this our curiosity combined with the call of nature
forced us out of our vehicle through the rain into the Terminal building.
The first thing to greet us was a large display dedicated to the sinking
of The Caribou in 1942 in which 167 lives were lost....not exactly a reassuring
sight for us already queasy would be travellers. Everyone else seemed
to be in a "devil may care" holiday mood....the ticket agents
response to our anxious query about sailing time was "Oh we'll take
another look at it in an hour. If you like beer or maybe coffee you might
as well relax and enjoy...we could be here for a while". "Don't they
have weather forecasters in Newfoundland?" we found ourselves asking
each other....planes and boats are scheduled all over the world....do
they all "take a look at it in an hour"?
We sat in our vehicle for another couple of hours before venturing out
and wresting the information out of the agent that we would be boarding
shortly but would probably not be leaving until the morning....at this
point we pulled out of line with the warning "We sail at eight a.m
so you'd better be back here by 7:00!" ringing in our ears. So off
we headed to spend the night at a wonderful Country Inn in Sydney Mines...we
enjoyed the lavish comforts there with the abandon that a condemned man
must feel enjoying his last meal!!!!
We arrived promptly at 7:00 am thoroughly refreshed and ready for anything;
and feeling very smug and superior with the realisation that all of the
other passengers had boarded the night before and had spent what we imagined
to be a miserable night aboard. We were ushered on immediately....no more
waiting now...we will be leaving shortly. We waited and waited and waited
while the captain took another look at "it" every hour...finally
we felt some movement as the boat finally pulled away from the pier at
11:30 am...and we settled down for the five hour sail to Port au Basques
with the realisation that our 12-hour sea-sickness pills had worn off
hours before! Hey! This wasn't so bad - a little rocking and heaving but
not uncomfortable at all...we were getting our sea-legs and feeling quite
pleased with ouyrselves when we sensed that the boat was turning back
and was now heading back toward North Sydney! What's going on????? Need
we have asked?
The Captain was taking another look at "it"
before making the leap from the tip of Cape Breton across the open sea
to Newfoundland. How long could this go on??? "He'll keep sailing
back and forth in the lee of Cape Breton Island until he felt it was safe
to make the crossing. And that we did .... back and forth....up and down....all
day and all night. Our five hour crossing became a 22 hour adventure...arriving
at 7:00 am on Saturday morning. But I'll leave the details of that "night
of nights" on the "Joseph and Clara Smallwood" for another
time. Suffice it to say that we arrived safely and made the return trip
through the first winter snow and gales of the season. Indeed a trip to
Newfoundland in late October is truly an "Ordeal by Water!"
but nevertheless a memorable and enjoyable one if you enter into the spirit
of it.
By: Adrien Blanchette
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