Ramea turned out to be a very convenient stop. Tied to a dock, with electricity that cost just

Ramea

$10CDN per night, with grocery store, restaurant, laundry facilities and post office all within about 100 yards! Another community that is Outport-ish, reliant on the ferry and with an aging population, everyone basically talking about when ‘they’ll’ close it and how can I get off this island… Even so, they have a new school – with 30 students and 4 teachers. It seems all of Newfoundland that we’ve encountered so far has been devastated by the moratorium on fishing – which back in 1994 essentially closed down the industry.

Ramea is quite pretty and the town has established a 5 mile boardwalk around the entire island so it’s possible to actually get out and see the place without getting your feet wet in the bogs. Numerous planks are engraved with people’s names and for $20 you too can have a plank – it’s their way of supporting the upkeep of the boardwalk. We bought 2 planks – one for us and one for the boat! The boardwalk winds around to the lighthouse at the southern point and we’d been invited to visit by Roland, the relief lightkeeper, who kindly gave us a cuppa tea and a tour of the light itself.

Click on photos to enlarge…

Diverse Newfoundland Flora

View from the Lighthouse

Pretty little fishing community

Ferry

Ramean Humour

At the dock we were frequently visited by various townfolk – all very nice with their tuneful accents.

We spent four nights in Ramea getting batteries fully charged and making repairs to our Monitor Windvane (self-steering gear) in the hopes of avoiding a costly replacement somewhere down the line.

We set off across the bay just 4 miles to White Bear Cove – a 12 mile long fjord which ends in a wide open expanse with numerous cabins dotted along the shoreline. It was Saturday – so we were allowed to fish – but I don’t think there are any fish in this part of the world!