On board the "AMOEBA"









BADDECK, NS TO P.E.I.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2005
The deck of the Amoeba to Anne of Green Gables,
Stay TUNA'd IN








Can Benign Bay be far away ?












Old salts, Bill Turner,
Cathy Carlig, & Lynn Spiher
ready to sail



Our last day in Baddeck was spectacular. It was sunny, breezy, and a perfect day for a sail on the Amoeba, a 67' two masted ship. This was not some fake excursion, with a diesel propelling us around the bay. Three minutes off the dock the engine was off and we were under sail. A family owned craft, our captain Johns' father had hand-built the boat in 1977. His charming wife, Bev, and daughter, Laurie, served as the support crew and waitstaff. The youngest daughter, Christy, handled the dock. We had lunch on board, reached eight knots at one point, got a close-up view of the Alexander Graham Bell home (not open to visitors as it is still occupied by the descendants of old AGB), and a bald eagle nesting in its aerie. A caravan highlight.




Hemming Ernestway's
Old Men and the Sea,
l-r,
Jack Dallimore, Max Joseph,
Gary Fithian, Dale Tague








Jay Maxwell, retired Delta Airlines pilot, lectures Rena Yee, Myra and Max Joseph, on the dangers of sailing.















Alex's special home on a 500 acre point.


The following day we departed for New Glasgow, NS, with a destination of a shopping center parking lot for a single overnight stay. This strategy was employed to position the caravan for an early morning departure on the P.E.I. ferry. Asphalt is not dog poop friendly so we extended our day tour well into the evening to avoid the "mall". Most malls have the ambience of an airport kiosk, an interior design as inviting as elevator collision matting, and the personality of a Q-Tip, so I doubt we missed much.












Nova Jersey A/S jacket












This led us to a unique daytime experience along the Cape Breton coast in a small seacoast town, Port Hood, home of the Ceilidh Fishermans' Co-Op. We manuevered the trailer near the dock and met up with a half dozen tuna fisherman. That morning they had caught 8 bluefin tuna, ranging from 375 lbs. up to 984 lbs. They are carefully regulated by the govt. as to when (the season), how many (one per day), they catch, then taxed $150 per fish, + $30 a year for the renewal of the license. Current value of the lifetime license (salable and transferable) is $85,000.


Lynn and the 984 lb. bluefin.





















The auctioneer offered us a little tail.




The fish are so heavy, they simply tie a rope around the tail and tow them home. Unlike Hemingway, they are not encumbered by sharks looking for a free lunch. This tuna is not for canning, i.e., Starkist, Chicken of the Sea, Bumblebee, but is the prized sushi in the world. They are auctioned off the same day to buyers from around the globe. The very best go to Japan, the marginal to Europe and the states. At roughly $16/lb at auction, it retails in Tokyo for $75/lb. Hey, eat it raw, why waste expensive fossil fuel cooking ?



The fishermen love the life and like many small farmers, make a marginal living in answering the call to nature.

We made the trip over to Prince Edward Island on the Confederation Ottawa, a large non-descript ferry in the morning and are now on the island of Anne of Green Gables and her beloved Avonlea. I know that by the time we leave here I'm going to be nauseated by the sight of that little red-haired weinie in pigtails. I'd rather be reincarnated as one of A.G. Bells' descendents. Who said everyone is born equal.


The province, one of the last to battle
Sunday shopping.









Today, for lunch, what else, ?...... tuna salad sandwiches.