When I decided to extend my month long trip to the east coast, I had one destination in mind--a return to the Cabot Trail. It was October and I wasn’t about to miss the Celtic Colours Festival. I booked a room on Boularderie Island, left Halifax and headed out. By the time I reached the Canso Causeway, it was obvious that the fall colours were starting to bloom.
My travelling partner and I had stayed in Baddeck a couple of weeks earlier from where we explored the Cabot Trail. It was a beautiful drive but there was no colour. When I returned, it was like driving through a painting. Now that I was on my own, I decided that I was going to take more time exploring and getting to know the people. On my way to Boularderie, I needed to pass right by Baddeck so I decided to stop for lunch. That turned out to be a fateful and fortuitous decision.
As I was travelling up Shore Road into Baddeck, I noticed out of the corner of my eye what appeared to be the front end of a partly finished small boat sticking out of the door of a large shop. Seemed like a good reason to turn around and investigate. That decision yielded one of the best encounters of my trip.
Inside the shop I saw not one but two partly finished boats. After interrupting the one man in the shop—he was cutting a piece of lumber on the table saw, I introduced myself. Steven Goldthwaite was very friendly and open to chatting. Steven told me that he was from New Jersey and had been spending his summers in Baddeck for years—he has family connections there. Besides that, he loves the area and is dating a local woman named Rosie Mackenzie. Rosie is a musician (fiddler) and a performer at some of the Celtic Colours Concerts. Steven went on to tell me about the boats and why they were building them. He told me that he and Rosie cut the trees themselves, hauled them to his shop and milled them into boards for the boats. It sounded like the beginning of a great adventure.
The Naomhog is a traditional Irish rowing boat and these two boats were being specifically built for the Celtic Colours Festival. The project not only involved the building of the boats but they had to be fully functional. They were going to be rowed from Baddeck to Iona by the musicians who would be performing a concert in that community later in the week. I looked back at what were just skeletons. “You have a lot of work to get them ready,” I said. Steven told me that the rest of the boat building crew had the day off but they would all be there the next day in force. He invited me to come back. He then told me that there would be a pre screen showing of a film called The Camino Voyage at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site the following night. The Camino Voyage is a documentary about an epic voyage from Ireland to Northern Spain in a Naomhog. That voyage was made to commemorate Irish sailors of days gone by that regularly made the dangerous trip. Steven invited me to attend the showing.
The next morning, I was anxious to get back to Baddeck and meet the boat builders. I arrived at about 10 to find the crew busy cutting, sanding and making fine adjustments to the still un-skinned skeleton that soon would be functional Naomhog’s, they hoped. Rosie was being interviewed by CBC radio so everyone worked as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the conversation. I met the master boat builder, Padraig O’Duinnin. Padraig and others came from Ireland just to participate in the project. Some of them were also involved in the making of the documentary, The Camino Voyage. Two of the builders, Liam Holden and Brendan Moriarty were crew members on that voyage. It was serious business for these folks and they had very little time to complete the boats.
I was given free rein to take as many photographs as I wanted and to chat with the builders. I tried not to get in the way and kept my conversations short understanding that they were under pressure to get the boats finished before the scheduled launch date, which was about 4 days away. I was just delighted to be around such passionate and dedicated people and to be, in a small way, part of the project. I got my photos and met some great folks before leaving them to their work.
I spent the rest of the day hanging out in Baddeck--a little shopping, some lunch, some photo editing and some writing. The film didn’t start until 6:00. I was glad that I stayed. It was an awesome film, one that I would encourage everyone to watch if they have the opportunity. You can read more on the documentary at: www.anupictures.com
I moved on to Cape North on the Cabot Trail the next day and didn’t get to see the launching of the Naomhog’s. A few days later I was at the Doryman Pub and Grill in Cheticamp to listen to some music and enjoy a couple of pints. One of the musicians, Kenneth Mackenzie was one of the boat builders. Kenneth told me that the boats did get finished and were launched as scheduled. I was happy to know that the project was a success.
I will say this many times when writing about the Maritimes--the friendliness, openness and willingness of the people to invite you into their lives is truly awesome.
My travelling partner and I had stayed in Baddeck a couple of weeks earlier from where we explored the Cabot Trail. It was a beautiful drive but there was no colour. When I returned, it was like driving through a painting. Now that I was on my own, I decided that I was going to take more time exploring and getting to know the people. On my way to Boularderie, I needed to pass right by Baddeck so I decided to stop for lunch. That turned out to be a fateful and fortuitous decision.
As I was travelling up Shore Road into Baddeck, I noticed out of the corner of my eye what appeared to be the front end of a partly finished small boat sticking out of the door of a large shop. Seemed like a good reason to turn around and investigate. That decision yielded one of the best encounters of my trip.
Inside the shop I saw not one but two partly finished boats. After interrupting the one man in the shop—he was cutting a piece of lumber on the table saw, I introduced myself. Steven Goldthwaite was very friendly and open to chatting. Steven told me that he was from New Jersey and had been spending his summers in Baddeck for years—he has family connections there. Besides that, he loves the area and is dating a local woman named Rosie Mackenzie. Rosie is a musician (fiddler) and a performer at some of the Celtic Colours Concerts. Steven went on to tell me about the boats and why they were building them. He told me that he and Rosie cut the trees themselves, hauled them to his shop and milled them into boards for the boats. It sounded like the beginning of a great adventure.
The Naomhog is a traditional Irish rowing boat and these two boats were being specifically built for the Celtic Colours Festival. The project not only involved the building of the boats but they had to be fully functional. They were going to be rowed from Baddeck to Iona by the musicians who would be performing a concert in that community later in the week. I looked back at what were just skeletons. “You have a lot of work to get them ready,” I said. Steven told me that the rest of the boat building crew had the day off but they would all be there the next day in force. He invited me to come back. He then told me that there would be a pre screen showing of a film called The Camino Voyage at the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site the following night. The Camino Voyage is a documentary about an epic voyage from Ireland to Northern Spain in a Naomhog. That voyage was made to commemorate Irish sailors of days gone by that regularly made the dangerous trip. Steven invited me to attend the showing.
The next morning, I was anxious to get back to Baddeck and meet the boat builders. I arrived at about 10 to find the crew busy cutting, sanding and making fine adjustments to the still un-skinned skeleton that soon would be functional Naomhog’s, they hoped. Rosie was being interviewed by CBC radio so everyone worked as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the conversation. I met the master boat builder, Padraig O’Duinnin. Padraig and others came from Ireland just to participate in the project. Some of them were also involved in the making of the documentary, The Camino Voyage. Two of the builders, Liam Holden and Brendan Moriarty were crew members on that voyage. It was serious business for these folks and they had very little time to complete the boats.
I was given free rein to take as many photographs as I wanted and to chat with the builders. I tried not to get in the way and kept my conversations short understanding that they were under pressure to get the boats finished before the scheduled launch date, which was about 4 days away. I was just delighted to be around such passionate and dedicated people and to be, in a small way, part of the project. I got my photos and met some great folks before leaving them to their work.
I spent the rest of the day hanging out in Baddeck--a little shopping, some lunch, some photo editing and some writing. The film didn’t start until 6:00. I was glad that I stayed. It was an awesome film, one that I would encourage everyone to watch if they have the opportunity. You can read more on the documentary at: www.anupictures.com
I moved on to Cape North on the Cabot Trail the next day and didn’t get to see the launching of the Naomhog’s. A few days later I was at the Doryman Pub and Grill in Cheticamp to listen to some music and enjoy a couple of pints. One of the musicians, Kenneth Mackenzie was one of the boat builders. Kenneth told me that the boats did get finished and were launched as scheduled. I was happy to know that the project was a success.
I will say this many times when writing about the Maritimes--the friendliness, openness and willingness of the people to invite you into their lives is truly awesome.
