{"id":2308,"date":"2008-06-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/?p=2308"},"modified":"2009-04-15T08:52:15","modified_gmt":"2009-04-15T13:52:15","slug":"s_logs-dashew-dashew509","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/s_logs-dashew-dashew509\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Bay, Labrador"},"content":{"rendered":"
Testing extremes, and exploring a 16th century shipwreck in Red Bay.<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Welcome<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Since we are testing all manner of things as we cruise (ourselves included) we left the diesel heater off last night to see how we would fare. Wearing our heaviest night shirts, sleeping under the #3 weight quilt, and snuggling closely, we were quite comfortable (but getting out of bed to adjust hydraulic pressure was traumatic). A look at the thermostat this morning had us in shock – 47F\/8C. Actually, not that bad considering the water and air temperatures are barely above freezing. The Armaflex insulation on our aluminum hull and deck does seem to work as predicted in cold weather.<\/p>\n

\"dressed<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

As miserable as the weather may seem, it is lovely compared to Prince William Sound in Alaska last summer. And we know from experience that once dressed for the conditions, the door to the deck opens easily, and it really is not that bad outside. Besides, we are here to experience Labrador – while we have a fair inventory of books about this area, they do not replace actually walking the land. Otherwise, why leave the comforts of home?<\/p>\n

As you can see we did make it ashore. But only after a degree of procrastination unbefitting cruisers Greenland-bound. It is blowing, raining, and choppy – a nice day by some standards. We have on our Alaskan "sneakers" (see bottom of photo above), foul weather gear tops and pants, fleece, gloves, warmest hats, and then donned life jackets to complete our assemblage (the latter to increase our odds should we go for a swim – otherwise, the chances of survival are slim indeed).<\/p>\n

\"Wind<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Red Bay was a major Basque whaling center in the 16th century. By 1540, as many as 2500 men came here seasonally to catch bowhead and right whales, and then render their blubber into oil, which was used for all manner of things in Europe. At the peak of the industry it is thought 50 ships a year made the voyage from Europe to Labrador and back. In the 1970s, a researcher in Spain identified Red Bay as a good site for archeological pursuits based on two wills that had been written while in Red Bay. She also read of shipwrecks and thought that there might be a sunken Basque galleon located here.<\/p>\n

\"freighter<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

The drift pattern of the local freighter (above), whose ground tackle failed during a winter storm, was used to help determine where the 16th century San Juan<\/em> might lie. Those "don’t anchor here" buoys mark the watery grave of the San Juan<\/em>. All of which confirms our belief in big anchors, high tensile chain, and oversized deck gear with which to handle ground tackle.<\/p>\n

The result of this under and above water research is a fascinating pair of museums devoted to the artifacts dug up on land and in the sea, including reproduced sections of the hull of one of the whaleboats. The archeologists estimate that whale oil then had a value of around $5000 per barrel in today’s currency, showing us that we may still have a way to go on the price of our more modern oil. The combination of cold water and mud bottom make the San Juan<\/em> the best preserved wreck of a 16th century ship in existence. After studying the remains, archeologists have replaced the timber in their watery abode to preserve them. They also found graves with remains well preserved in the cold bog and a settlement with tools, pottery shards and clothing.<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

The village has a picturesque waterfront with many of the older buildings still in use.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

There must be a Yamaha dealer close by, as that is the only type of outboard we have seen.<\/p>\n

\"Barn,<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

We’d love to take some of these photos with sunlight. The shapes, colors, and contrasts would be really lovely. But for now we have to settle for clouds and digging the camera out between rain drops.<\/p>\n

\"Red<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

The Red Bay Hardware and Convenience store, demonstrating why vinyl siding is so popular. Note the "Matchless" paint sign to the left.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Summer is late arriving according to the locals, and as if to tease them and us we have had a few minutes of sunshine.<\/p>\n

\"summer<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

By July we are "guaranteed" sufficient quantities of sunshine to make the gardens bloom. But there is a catch. They only grow potatoes outside. Other veggies require a hot house. The leafy plant around the perimeter of the garden is wild rhubarb.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

Of course, "summer" is over come September, which makes us wonder what it must be like to live here year around. The size of the heating oil tank relative to the dwelling to which it is connected may provide a clue.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

We discussed the Labradorean lifestyle with Tanya Butts while downing a hearty lunch of soup (both chicken-vegetable and fish) and a caribou sandwich (Labrador caribou is very mild, not gamy tasting as it is in Newfoundland). We learned the local school has 22 pupils, kindergarten through 12th grade, with the two kindergartners having just had their graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n

The Whaler restaurant is only open for a few months during the summer. The rest of the time Tanya does projects at home, substitute teaches, and goes on the weekends with her husband and two children to their winter cabin, a snowmobile ride across a nearby (frozen) bay. A good deal of effort goes into chopping wood for the coming year. The trees are cleaned, then cut into stove-size logs, and pulled on a sled behind the snowmobile to where it is stacked and dried for the coming year. We got the impression this is a challenging but rewarding place in which to reside, for those who are self sufficient.<\/p>\n

There are four types of local berries. Bakeapple (also known as cloud berries), squash berries, blackberries, and partridge berries. These ripen at different times during the summer, each on their own type of vine or bush, with unique tastes. <\/p>\n

\"humpback<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

We asked around if the humpback display from yesterday was normal. They do see a few whales within the bay this time of year. However, yesterday’s visit was unique in terms of quantity and quality. Perhaps the stabilizers on Wind Horse<\/em>, now painted white like the humpback’s own fins, attracted them (we have seen the occasional spout since, but nothing like the first day).<\/p>\n

\"Humpbacl<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

The bubble feeding, which was taking place so close to shore, was a new event.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

That is an open humpback whale mouth (above) into which the camera is looking.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

And the back with spout in the wind.<\/p>\n

\"Labrador<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

The coastline of Labrador holds a number of villages like Red Bay. You could spend the entire summer here and not run out of interesting people and places to visit. The Labrador flag, by the way, has three horizontal bars, representing the three cultures that make up the population – the Innu, Inuit and European settlers – and how they have made harmony in the snow. The top bar shows the twig of a spruce tree in the white for snow. The middle green stripe represents the land. And the blue represents the abundance of water – rivers, lakes and seas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Testing extremes, and exploring a 16th century shipwreck in Red Bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dashew-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/setsail.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}