| The series of special articles
to follow is reprinted with the kind permission of Eastern
Shore author and publisher Marike Finlay-de Monchy and the
Guysborough
Journal. |
Dateline:
November 2006
2ND in the Series
 "COME
FROM AWAY?"
Let's start with some first hand experience of how I almost did
NOT come to the Eastern Shore.
Ten years ago during my summer vacations from work in Montreal,
I sailed, with my crew, from Camden, Maine down east, then across
to Grand Manan, back across to Passamaquoddy, and again across
to Brier Island, around Cape Sable, into Shelburne, along the
South Shore to Lunenburg, then up into the North West Arm of Halifax
Harbour. Each anchorage was so beautiful, the people so helpful
and charming, that I and my crew would exclaim to each other:
"We could live here!"
As we sailed along, fellow cruisers and the inhabitants of the
province would echo our appreciation of the beauty of these coasts.
They also advised us to sail to the Bras d'Or Lakes, "THE"
destination for cruisers: "Once you set sail from Halifax,"
we were counseled, "just go off shore 10 miles and head straight
down to the St. Peter's Canal."
"But shouldn't we visit the Eastern Shore?" we asked.
"No, don't bother with that. It's reef-strewn and if the
fog lifts there's really nothing to see there anyway."
Now, that is a kind of "BRANDING' of the Eastern Shore if
I ever heard one. Not one that will do much good though, unless
its peoples are seeking some kind of "repellant".
Something is desperately wrong if that advice is prevalent about
this part of Nova Scotia.
TIANS has estimated that the Eastern Shore receives between 1%
and 2% of the total tourist dollars entering Nova Scotia. As we
know, the woes of tourism on the Eastern Shore are often blamed
on the poor conditions of the roads. Surely our roads are not
98% or 99% worse than all of the other roads in Nova Scotia? There
must be some other reasons than roads for these poor showings.
There must be other measures that can be taken to lure tourists
and eventual permanent settlers to come to the Eastern Shore than
paving more roads. For example, I have travelled a great deal
around the world, places where there are many travelers, such
as the Isle of Skye in Scotland, where the roads are far worse
than Hwy 7.
Well the good ship Keshkan did ply the coastal waters of the
Eastern Shore. We had partied a little too much in Halifax the
night before leaving so we hauled into the outer islands of Ship
Harbour that evening for some much needed rest. The eve was balmy,
the islands green, the waters clear, the air smelling of blooming
spruce jutting out of granite rocks, the loons sang, a few wood
smoke fires wafted up, daylight seemed to last forever, the sunset
was glorious. We thought we were in heaven - a heaven that we
had all to ourselves. And at least twenty other boats could have
found secluded anchorages in Ship Harbour that night. We decided
to carry on along the inside passage which, despite its many reefs,
was quite navigable, especially nowadays with modern navigational
equipment such as radar, chart plotters and GPS. The islands off
of Marie Joseph were next on this passage, then Whitehead's hurricane
hole, Yankee Cove, followed by the challenging but fun, tricky
Andrews Passage to Canso. The sailing was great; a sleigh ride
in south westerlies. The unspoiled wilderness was so stunning
that we actually longed for it while sailing the bucolic Bras
d'Or Lakes. We were happy to return to the salty air and waters
on our way back, stopping again in Yankee Cove, then Isaacs Harbour,
Sheet Harbour, before laying the boat up for the winter Lunenburg.
(There was and I believe still is no place to lay a deep keel
boat up on the hard on the Eastern Shore even though the marinas
in Halifax and the South Shore are chock-a-block.)
The next summer we sailed the Eastern Shore again, nudging further
into the harbours, despite the fact that the cruising guides offered
little social information, to meet some of the inhabitants. In
Jeddore we were assisted by a diver to clear a fouled prop. In
Sheet Harbour, Gary and Donna Henley welcomed our dinghy to their
wharf and helped us get water. David Gammon, at Home Hardware,
hunted down arcane mechanical parts for me. The Liscombe Lodge,
in its heyday, opened its gracious doors and its staff their hearts
to us. A summer resident in Country Harbour had us over for supper.
Our reception at the Canso Marina was other than cordial, but
the Andrews Channel, the Grassy Island Museum, and the walking
trail (where a local introduced us to bake apples) were so awesome
that we didn't fret it, merely lamented that such an attitude
wasn't doing the town any favours.
We had been so seduced by the landscape and people of the Eastern
Shore that we decided to make a huge life change. We gave up good
jobs in Quebec, purchased property on West Quoddy Bay, moved here
and started up a small business. Three "Come From Aways"
had arrived in Nova Scotia, had brought three tax bases, had started
a small business, had started creative enterprises, had hired
many people off and on, had invited many other "tourists"
to come and visit and create here, had come to try to make a contribution
to this area and the province at large.
But we could just as well not have come had we listened to comments
before hand, had we merely read the uninformative cruising guides,
had we taken to heart our reception at the only marina. When we
spoke to people after moving here we would say how much we loved
it and that this place was really the best kept secret in the
country. Often these people would smile shyly, pleased at the
compliment. Then slyly, they would reply with something like:
"well don't tell too many people about it". Could it
be that the citizens of the Eastern Shore did want "repellant"
after all? Now one could imagine some reasons for this. They need
to be addressed. (Perhaps they could be the subject of some replies
to this column.)
Nevertheless, the Eastern Shore has far fewer citizens than it
did 150 years ago. Many of its houses are lying empty or selling
for way below national market value. Its schools are depopulated
and closing. Its tax base has eroded. Tourist industries here
are suffering high vacancy rates. It is being left behind in the
current of economic renewal occurring in the rest of this country
in the 21st Century.
And still, we were not quite sure just how "Come From Away"
was meant. Was that a somewhat derogatory label: "Oh, you're
a Come From Away…."? Or could that be a beckoning: "Come;
come here, from away."
WHAT WE CAN DO:
1) Ask ourselves why we might resent Come From Aways and deal
with those issues. When does someone cease to be a Come From Away?
Are Maritimers resented when they settle in the rest of Canada?
2) Communicate with people we know in the rest of the province
asking them to promote rather than talk down the Eastern Shore.
3) Invite and welcome Come From Aways while asking them to CONTRIBUTE
to this society, and that includes the summer-only residents.
(Again, replies to this column might suggest what we would like
Come From Aways, including summer residents, to contribute.)
4) Form a steering committee to install guest moorings and landing
dinghy docks in Eastern Shore Harbours. Appoint welcoming Harbour
Masters. Publicize the unique beauty and wilderness of these world
class cruising waters and our extended welcome in all cruising
guides and magazines. (The docks at Guysborough are lovely but
does the international yachting community know about them?) Try
to start up a full service marina with government incentives.
(This strategy has worked well for Shelburne, bringing in many
tourists and eventual residents.)
5) More suggestions welcome….
IF YOU WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN ANY OF THESE STRATEGIES, A VIRTUAL
MEETING PLACE HAS BEEN SET UP ON HIGHWAY
7 ONLINE'S DISCUSSION FORUMS - FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO GET
INVOLVED AND TAKE SMALL BUT CONCRETE STEPS TOWARDS MAKING INROADS
ON THE EASTERN SHORE.
Coming in December - "Rural
Inequalities Inhibit Economic Progress?"
Marike Finlay - de Monchy taught Communications at McGill University
and abroad, practiced psychoanalysis, carried out development
work in Latin America, and managed an organic farm in Quebec.
Marike sailed to the Eastern Shore and loved it
so much that she has since settled in West Quoddy where she runs
a small writing, editing and publishing business.
Marike and Karin Cope are co-authors of "Casting a Legend
- The Story of the Lunenburg Foundry".
"Casting a Legend - The Story of the Lunenburg Foundry"
Buy the Book Now!
Buy Karin Cope's book
"Passionate Collaborations: Learning to Live With Gertrude
Stein"
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on Earth is
