Cape Breton's Magazine

That hand-lining business was in my grand? father's day and my father's day, but that was all done away with. (You were the mod? ern one.) It was modern. We carried do? ries. Them fellas never carried dories. They just had the boat, but we fellas had dories. They would just jig it, or hand- line it, whatever you want to call it, over the side of the boat. We fellas--we had six tubs of trawl (to) a dory. (So, you've put out your trawl, you've rowed a long way from your schooner....) She'd on? ly be about that size. {George holds his thumb and forefinger about three inches apart to indicate the size of the schooner,) You had a foghorn about that long, and you'd blow. And on the schooner they had a pump one. We could hear the schooner, but they couldn't hear us until you got to a certain distance. At a certain distance they could hear you from the schooner and they'd come look for you. But you had to go look for them. You could hear the horn on the schooner and you'd row for that. But after you got so close, they could hear you and they'd come to you. There would be two men in the dory. One fella would be blowing the horn and the other fella would be pulling (rowing) the dory. Our last set for Christmas (one year) • 'we got the boat in euad we lost her. The wind was southeast. Now that's on the West Coast that I'm talking about. You always tried to get home for Christmas. And we lost her. That's the only Christmas I never spent in Newfoundland. I got a daughter • she's sev? enty. That's when she was bom. That Christmas. That's the only Christmas I fig? ure I ever lost fishing in Newfoundland. I lost the boat and there was no Christmas. (Why did you put the boat ashore?) Well, it was a stoirm and we lost the rudder. The rudder come unshipped, and where we were at was thick with snow. We knew where we were, but we ran over that shoal rock, and the old boat drew more water than what was over the rock, and knocked the whole bot? tom out of it. We lost the boat and every? thing that was in it. But we got a bunch of guys after Christmas, we got her off the bottom and hauled her and repaired her, put another bottom in her. That's the same old boat--the schooner over there behind that lamp. (George points to a picture on the wall,) Not a schooner--it was a two-dory boat, you know. My father owned her. 1' grandfather and him. I wore her out. I lost her. That's how I got to come over here (to Cape Breton). I lost her coming home one spring, one April in the ice. It was ice arotind, eh? We were out sealing, halibut. Got caught out there. The engine broke down. I take a run to shore in fog and run her over a rock, and lost her. We was coming off the fishing grounds. I had seventy-five seals on her and a bunch of halibut. We lost her when a hole come in the engine and we didn't have no power. We ran her ashore in thick fog and ran her in over a rock. Knocked the bot? tom out of her. She sunk right there. But we didn't have the fish on her then. We had the fish gone (sold), eh? It was just the gear. We had all the fishing gear on. There was two dories, and six of us. -ao- SUPERIOR OPTICAL UMITED Owned & Operated JAMES DEAN Optician COMPLETE OPTICAL SERVICE Dolores Fifield Optician : S64-8486 Sydney Shopping Centre > J'M THE K BEAR PAW GIFT & CRAFT SHOP Local Crafts to Tickle Your Fancy Photographs • Knitting • Crocheting Painting • Quilts • Weaving/Hooking Gifts to Test Your Resistance • Beautiful Souvenirs l??JJfJililHir.!JI • Attractive Tartans • China and Glassware | • Numbered Icono Celtic Prints PLUS OTHER ARTISTS And: • Celtic Jewellery Cape Breton Tapes and CD's CENTRAL AVE. INVERNESS PHONE 258-2528 11th Year! CEILIDHS July 24 and Delicious, Fresh SUBS and KAISERS (choice of 8 toppings) • Daily SOUP Specials I Wonderful ?? SALADS ! You Always Get a Break at Robin 's 519 Grand Lake Road, SYDNEY OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK