The Great Lakes Lure

BY KIM PLOUGHMAN

WORKING AWAY, all over the world, is part of the lifestyle for many Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and has been for generations. One of the places that have drawn people who are skilled on the water is the Great Lakes, where it is said to be rare to find a carrier without a Newfoundlander on its crew. And many of those Newfoundlanders come from the tiny outport of Burnt Islands.

This small, sheltered harbour on the province’s southwest coast (27 km from Port aux Basques) attracted fishermen from the west coast of England in the mid-1800s. The fishery would become a way of life here throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th century. But as the fishery waned at times, many of these seasoned seamen were forced to travel elsewhere for work. Fishermen and others in this rocky, barren outport had vital skills passed down through generations, skills that were applicable in other parts of the country.

For its small size, Burnt Islands and area has certainly spawned a mighty crew of captains, mates, skippers and engineers. They were bred for the water, whether it was salt or fresh. And indeed, their mobility very likely strengthened their sense of place and stabilized their hometown, as their earnings supported their families and their homes still in Burnt Islands, where they’d return for part of the year.

The Mundens

Notwithstanding the opening of a fish plant in 1968 and a causeway connecting the mainland and island sections of the community the following year, many Burnt Islanders, including Kenny Munden, had to make their living away from home. In fact, Kenny spent a decade (1971- 81) working on the Lakes: Huron, Superior, Ontario and Erie, all connected to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Now retired back home in Burnt Islands – after also spending decades in the North West Territories and sailing the Arctic Ocean – Kenny reflects on the Great Lakes boat rush.

“Over the years, there was a whole bunch of people on the Great Lakes from here. For a small community with only 700 people, there have been a lot of captains and officers on the Lakes,” he says.

The Great Lakes has a thriving boat industry, but the primary vessels are not the fishing type. These boats are carriers, transporting bulk resources such as grain, gypsum, ore, barley and sugar. “You name it, we carried it,” Kenny says, noting that, “Most every boat on the Great Lakes had a Newfoundlander – still does!” Kenny has counted more than 30 skippers and mates from his community, with over 70 per cent of these still working on the Lake boats.

Kenny is the second generation in his family to work on the Great Lakes. His father, Kenneth, left Burnt Islands just after the province joined Confederation. “The fishery wasn’t great at that time, and there had been a friend or two of his who had gone up there and the money was half decent, so he left the fishery for the Lakes,” Kenny explains.

Kenneth spent months of every year away working in the shipping industry in central Canada, providing for his wife and nine children at home who needed to be fed and clothed. But it came with a price.

“When he would come home, we would call him ‘the man,’ as he was like a stranger to us young ones,” Kenny says, acknowledging his father’s sacrifice. “It was a hard life, but it was an income.”

Kenneth Munden retired at 65, but passed away a few years later. Kenny attributes his father’s ill health to what he had been exposed to on the freighters in those early years, when safety regulations were less than optimal.

The Algoma Innovator, a 198 m carrier built in 2017 tied up in Goderich, ON

The Vautiers of LaPoile

Clarence Vautier was born just down the coast from Burnt Islands, in the community of LaPoile. Clarence is no stranger to ships – not only is he the author of four books on shipwrecks in Newfoundland and Labrador, but he is also a full-time captain of a Great Lakes carrier and has spent more than 25 years on the Lakes. When he’s not on the boats, he’s at home in Paradise, NL, with his family.

Clarence was a child when he first began hearing stories about the men of the southwest coast who went off to the Great Lakes. He says his father fished from Burnt Islands in the early 1950s and men were heading west then to work on the Lake boats.

Through his research, Clarence says he has found the first local man to do so: Garfield Parsons, circa 1938. Ronald Ingram of Grand Bruit joined him the following year, and later others including Cecil Billard, in 1951, and Thomas Vautier from Petites. In 1954, Ronald Leamon of Burnt Islands got the Lake fever, followed by Kenneth Munden. Clarence also notes that Minter Caines of Burnt Islands followed Leamon on his return journey to the Lakes. Clarence reaffirms that it was the thirst for work that led these sailors to uproot for most of the year to work on the Lake carriers. “By the 1950s, [there] wasn’t much to the fisheries, and while Marine Atlantic provided a boost, going on a Lake boat was a pretty big thing,” he says, adding, “As time came on, more and more people decided to go up and give it a try.”

Captain Clarence Vautier and three Burnt Islanders playing cards on the Algorail in 2010

Working this winter on the Algoma Innovator transporting road salt, Clarence says he currently has seven men from the southwest coast on his ship, including Robert (Bobby) Keeping, now 60, who has spent more than four decades on the Lakes. “I’ve been on boats where 18-19 of the crew were from the south coast communities,” Clarence says, highlighting that he once had a father and his two sons as shipmates.

The culture on the boat has transformed over the years, he remarks, explaining that the change came with the introduction of the internet and TV. “One time, there used to be big ol’ yarns about Ski-dooing, hunting and the weather; and the boys would play darts and cards, but all that has fallen by the wayside.” Now, sparks of such conversation amongst the Newfoundlanders take place during brief coffee breaks and lunch time. Most of the Lake jobs, Clarence points out, are obtained through the Seafaring International Union (SIU). “You had to come up, put your name in and then wait before you got the job you wanted.”

Fred Scott of Isle aux Morts

The union route was how Fred Scott obtained his engineer job on the Lakes in 1965 and worked there for 15 years. Fred, who is originally from Isle aux Morts, says his brother was already up there, as well as a bunch of guys from Burnt Islands, Rose Blanche and his hometown, so he decided to join them.

“My God, it was a good experience, even the trip up on the train; and we hung out at the union hall to try and get shipped out.”

There was no shortage of Newfoundlanders on the 735-foot Lakers, Fred remarks. “There were a lot of our friends there back in the day, and there’s even more to this day.” He lists off a series of names – Taylors, Keepings, Hardys and others – who were all part of the southwest coast family on these bulk carriers.

Like most, Fred says he was lured to the Lakes mainly because of the reliable and decent income.

“Most of these little communities were small and [had] no roads; most they did were fishing on longliners. They were all good seamen, but when they went away, they, too, were hooked by the good wages and others just followed.” Fred recalls the many Newfound- land “shed parties” on the stern of these carriers. In particular, he says, “George Power had an accordion and he sure could make her talk.”

Now living in Twilingate (where his family moved when he was in his teens), Fred also spent close to four decades up North on the Beaufort Sea with his friend, Kenny Munden. “Retired” for six years, he is still part of the mobile workforce, working stints on the Arctic freighters. Fred has an extra reason to head back up north: his son, Stephen, and family live along the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories.

Teaching a Generation of Lakers

Llewelynn Munden lives in Port aux Basques today but is from Burnt Islands. Unlike his cousin Kenny, he didn’t end up on the Great Lakes. Lew, as he is called, was an educator for 34 years – 25 of them teaching in his hometown.

Lew estimates he taught more than 750 Burnt Islands students, adding that if he had spent another year in the classroom, he would have taught three generations in his community. He points out that while many grew up to have careers on the Great Lakes, there were many places and in many ways his fellow Burnt Islanders have survived and thrived.

“People from here have also ended up on the Newfoundland-Nova He adds, “A number of them also joined the forces, including the army and navy; and other professions, like nursing and university professors.”

Says Lew, “For a small place like Burnt Islands, people here have accomplished quite a bit. In comparison, we’ve done well.”

Asked if he can take any credit for any share of this worldly success of his townfolk, Lew chuckles and modestly says, “Hopefully, I had some effect on a number of the young people. When I see them I ask, ‘You got your captain’s ticket yet?’ just as a way to encourage them forward.”

More significantly, Lew figures it is the culture of the fishery that gave rise to so much talent and success. “Our people came from hardworking and resilient fishing families. It was a great training ground for any soul and seaman.”

Now 83, Lew reflects on the Burnt Islands and greater southwest coast phenomenon of sending an unusual number of sailors off to power the marine industry on the Lakes. “When you sit back and think about it, it makes a person pretty proud of being from this place.”

Incidentally, Burnt Islands is located near a very special bay – God Bay: a blessed place, indeed, where everything and anything under the heavens is possible.

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