11 August 2022 – Thursday – Merasheen Island to Burin

We left Merasheen bound for Burin. According to the history, Burin was where Al Capone kept his money after he did business in bootlegged liquor in the French Island of St Pierre. We entered the small and well protected harbor to find the perfect sized dock space for Friendship. There was a nice spot in front of a few fishing boats that worked well. The tide was low and the dock was high. Charlie was able to jump onto the dock from the top deck! We tied up quickly so that we could visit the tiny historic town before everything closed. The town had been a major fishing port in the late 1800’s and 1900’s until cod fishing was forbidden in the early 1990’s. This was the fate of many fishing towns.

The Bank of Nova Scotia was actually a museum filled with photos and items showing what the town had been like in its heyday. The old bank vault held all sorts bank books and receipts. Al Capone was not prominently featured but his photo was in the entrance hall.

We also visited a house that had belonged to a wealthy family. The artifacts in the house were said to be authentic to the family and the period. The third floor featured donated old medical equipment including old glass syringes, metal needles, glass suction bottles, metal tracheotomy tubes, an very old hand crank operating table and an old Stryker frame for orthopedic patients to be turned prone or supine. The museum guide was pleased with my knowledge of these items that were all a mystery to him. 

We passed a small cafe that advertised corned beef hash as a special. Charlie and I decided that take out portions would be perfect for the next day’s breakfast. We thought it was a great plan to support the local economy and get something we liked.

We returned to Friendship to make dinner on board. It turned out the we were the local dock entertainment that evening while the locals were jigging for squid on the dock. Squid is used as bait for fishing. They wanted to know all about us. As any of you who have seen the play “Come from Away”, these Newfoundlanders are very friendly.
We planned an early departure to get to France the next day…..