My days as s Communications Technician in Newfoundland

A Trip to Hooping Harbor

One time when I was in Corner Brook I received a trouble call to go to Hooping Harbor because Fred Hamlyn the operator in Englee could not contact them. I had to travel from Corner Brook to Englee which took me overnight because there was no road from Roddickton to Englee. I had to take a boat from Roddickton after supper. So the next day I hired Alf Pollard who had a two mast schooner to take me to Hooping Harbor a two hour run.

There was a bit of wind blowing white caps on the waves but Alf figured it was okay so we left Englee to go across Canada Bay. The mail boat left shortly after we could see the mailboat she got about half way across Canada Bay and turned around and went back but we went on. Going across Canada Bay the schooner was putting her stem under water and washing the deck. The spray was going to the tops of the masts. The Hedley J Davis was forty five feet long but she was getting quite a tossing. We made it into Hooping Harbour okay. I did my work but by the time I was finished there was a full fledged hurricane on so we decided to stay the night.

This was Monday evening. A freight boat about one hundred and fifty feet long came in that evening to get out of the storm and stayed the night. The storm was so bad the schooner was tossing around tied to the wharf so Alf figured it would be better if I stayed on shore he had a daughter living in Hooping Harbour that’s where I stayed. The crew put out extra lines to secure the schooner as they thought. Alf told me the next morning that they were up all night keeping the schooner safe and replacing broken ropes. They had a inch and half manila rope busted during the night. We also stayed in Port the next night so did the freighter. The next morning the freighter left so after a while Alf figured he would try it. I stayed in the forecastle in the bunk the crew (Alf had two deck hands with him his son Hayward and his son inlaw his last name was Randell) was back in the wheelhouse.

When we got out of the harbor in the open water the boat hit some vicious waves and the schooner listed so bad that I came out of the bunk and fell to the floor. I got up and cracked open the forecastle hatch to get a look but the decks were awash so bad I could not open the hatch. Alf watched his chance and came up to the forecastle and he asked me what we should do. I told him it was up to him if he wanted to carry on it was okay with me. After some thought he said it’s pretty rough I think I’ll turn around and go back. He said he would go back to the wheelhouse and watch his chance and turn around. That’s what he did and we stayed another night and we went back to Englee the next day. It was still a pretty rough trip. A one day trip lasted four days because of the hurricane.