Hi All, I have a home in a little fishing village, Rose Blanche, on the SW coast of Newfoundland. It was an outport until the road and electricity came in the late '60s. It's about 30 miles east of Port-aux-Basques where the ferry from Nova Scotia comes in and is the last village on the road. About a 3 mile paddle east is the abandoned village of Petites . The government stopped running the generator about 4 years ago and the last of the residents moved out. Another 20 and 30 miles east are La Poile and Grand Bruit, only accessible by water. La Poile has about 75 residents and is still a pretty viable community. Grand Bruit has only about 20 year around residents. The last of the school age kids have graduated. Both are beautiful places and great to kayak to. Another 40 miles or so further along the coast is Burgeo to which there is a road. And then two more outport villages, Grey River and Francois. Grey River may be seeing a renaissance with molybdenum and copper mining and Francois is making a name for itself in the cruise trade. Kayaking between these villages, you see only a few fishing boats and old settlements in which a few families still maintain their houses as summer places. The disappearance of these outport villages with their distinct cultures is a travesty. For generations, they have supported themselves with inshore fishing, long-lining from dories. No one got rich but people led comfortable (once electricity came in), secure lives in communities where people were just as open to strangers as to each other. The decrease in the cod stocks is taking it's toll as it is all over Newfoundland. Some are hanging on with lobster, hallibut, red fish and crab. But it seems as if these species days are numbered too. Jordan . > If you want more information google "newfoundland abandoned outports". The > web site www.ezc.ca has a wealth of information about some outports and > their history (although the photos didn't work for me). > > What an adventure to take a modern version of an ancient design and travel > back in history. > > > Craig Jungers *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Feb 1, 2008 9:15 AM, Jordan <jengel_at_gmavt.net> wrote: > Hi All, > I have a home in a little fishing village, Rose Blanche, on the SW coast > of Newfoundland. It was an outport until the road and electricity came in > the late '60s. Jordan... if you are that close to the ferry you should consider doing some guiding. I have my own trips planned this year (tentatively planned... I need to go out of business first LOL) but the lure of the outports for me is strong and I definitely plan to get out there and paddle myself in to an adventure visiting them. Craig Jungers Moses Lake, WA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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