Date: 8 July, 2013 8:39:45 PM EDT (10:09 PM NDT)

Dear all:

In case you’re wondering in what boat did we take the tour… here it is. Towards the end of the tour in which we visited a number of coastal villages which have been abandoned and the residents resettled elsewhere, we stopped in on Bruce’s grandfather’s old property in one of these abandoned villages where he has recently built a cabin. The fog had lifted in this sheltered cove and we had tea on the veranda of his cabin. He was a gracious host, showing us old photos and explaining what had happened when Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949 and how the Premier, then Joey Smallwood, convinced so many to resettle. This continued through the 1960s. Some benefitted and some didn’t.

Meanwhile, now that there has been a moratorium on the cod fishery since 1992 (and I think on the salmon since 1987), rural Newfoundland is suffering. Bruce Miller, the skipper, and a local, has done many jobs but always tried to remain here. He has been enticed to go to Alberta but has resisted. He loves being here and hopes he can continue to make a living (he says he makes maybe about $40,000 per year). He started these boat tours around a couple of years ago.

Sincerely

Sara