8/10/04   Fortune

Having spent 4 days in St. Johns amidst sewage and 6 days in Trepassey waiting for fuel and weather, and with only 70 miles between them, the lack of progress was troubling.  The weather finally improved starting late Sunday and a group of 3 friendly local boats  that had delayed an excursion up Placentia Bay decided to leave at 11PM.  They travel at 7 knots, so two hours later I left, passing them at about dawn at the tip of the bay.  In case the weather was bad, I could at least radio them for a report ahead.  After I passed them, I cut strait across the mouth of Placentia Bay (40 miles) and around the bottom of the Burin Peninsula and arrived at Fortune at about 1PM yesterday.

Last year I had obtained fuel in Fortune with only slight difficulty, but this year the trucks were all busy with fish boats (they use a different color diesel that is taxed less heavily, but often in the more remote ports I  can persuade them to sell me a couple hundred gallons).  Sometimes the trucks won't sell me red diesel (they are not supposed to), but the problem is usually not the color of the diesel but just that I am a relatively small sale and thus a pain in the ass to them (the American sword point in Trepassey took 4200 gallons).  The harbor master in Fortune is super nice (met him last year) and he arranged to have a guy from one of the local service stations bring me a couple of drums of diesel -- about 100 US gallons.  We gravity fed that from the back of his pickup into my aft tanks.  It wasn't as much as I wanted but it was enough to keep me going.

Today the weather was good again and I left Fortune and headed straight to Burgeo leaving Miquelon Island (territory of France) to port.  Docked in Burgeo, where I have twice previously bought fuel from a friendly Irving truck.  However, Irving shut down its operation here this year.  Was able to call Ultramar and they seemed pretty used to dealing with yachts.  Truck is coming tomorrow morning with 200 gallons of clear (legal and expensive) diesel.  Mainly, it is great to feel like I am on the move again.  About 215 miles in two days.  It looks like the weather will hold, so tomorrow I will head west and take my time getting back all the way around to Port Aux Basques (only 60 miles from here) where I started.  I will probably anchor in one of the road-less outports tomorrow night.

Trepassey was a friendly place to hang out, but a little blighted.  Like so many Newfoundland towns, the demise of fishing has hit hard, and, like so many Newfoundland towns, there is a closed down fish plant on the other side of the bay there.  Most young men there can't afford cars, so status is asserted via ATV's.  The bigger and more powerful your four wheel All Terrain Vehicle the better.  You tinker with your ATV instead of a car.  The hairier the better.  An electric winch on the front surely attracts chicks.  A serious fellow can carry two or three cases of beer in the front while his girl hangs on behind.  The winch cable is brought up around the beer on a front carrier rack and drawn in taught to scrunch the cases tightly aboard (along with a few bungee cords).

Presumably, engagement is signaled when a girl accepts a ride on an ATV, the age of consent having been reached when she is tall enough to climb aboard.  ATV's can tow trailers too.  There's nothing like hauling a trailer full of 2x4's back and forth past The Store to show the ladies what a fine nest you could build.  Don't omit the beer though.  Fog and long winters require lots of beer -- hell, it doesn't really matter what she looks like since you can't see her most of the time anyway.