As Hayward crests the hill he can
see men gathered on the beach near Neddie Roberts' dilapidated stage. The fall weather
storms will no doubt destroy what's remaining. The stages of Douglas Roberts at the far
end of the beach are fairly new and much more protected from the harsh elements.
Capelin seems to be the order of the day in all of Wild Cove. The Cove is not quite
so congested as in little Wild Cove. Only two or three boats moored off, and three
or four stages making its presence.
Hayward heads to the beach area to get a close up of the action. He notices a couple elderly gentlemen casting from a wharf at Douglas Roberts' stage area. Hayward decides to sit on the bank near a few folks relaxing, apparently just enjoying the day and the action at the beach. Even the hens are close by, as well as a few sheep grazing nearby.
Hayward overhears some of the casual conversation. Freddie Roberts' wife, Wavey, mentions her goat skin is almost dry, so she'll soon have a new mat. Walter is commenting on the new trap-boat moored off in the cove. From his conversation it is evident Lewis Roberts has earned quite a reputation for building quality trap-skiffs. "His boats were in so much demand, he built eight last winter", commented Walt. At this point Doug Roberts joined in the conversation. "No doubt we have some very capable men here in Wild Cove. Thomas Roberts has a widely known reputation for his unmatchable ability in building schooners. He has built schooners for people all over the place." Doug continued, "Did you hear about what happened when he built the schooner for the guy in Nova Scotia?" Someone replied, "No, what happened?"
Doug continues with his story. "When he was putting in the last plank, he blurted out, Oh my, I've run into a problem now. His assistant inquired, what's wrong? Well, the butt has to be joined on the same timber as the previous plank". Of course that was a taboo in those days to have two adjacent planks joining on the same timber. But what was he to do to resolve this problem? Doug continued. "Thomas asked what time the inspectors were coming to inspect the construction of the boat. He realized he had enough time for his plan. He said, I'll put the join there but make sure it's so good the inspector won't even notice. For the short piece join he was sure to find a piece with the same matching wood grain. He was careful to prepare the final joining piece and after installing it, took his time to do a very fine sanding job, particularly on the joined plank. When the inspector came, he did a thorough inspection but could not see any join in the plank. So that was a great testament to his craftsmanship abilities."
One of the ladies struck up a conversation, asking Doug what vegetables they had planted this year. Doug replied, "Basically the same as always; potatoes, turnip, carrot, cabbage and parsnip". Just then, a noise to the left caught their attention. Just across the way, not too far from Doug's house, they observed some noisy birds and some kids laughing. Evelyn pipes up, "What are they doing Doug? Looks like they're poking sticks in the bird pen." "Well, I guess I should head over there anyway," Doug comments. "The gulls are fattened up pretty good now. I suppose I should kill two or three to have for supper tomorrow". Evelyn sighs, "Oh my, I guess I know my job coming up then...pickin'. Isn't that fun? Too bad Gord' had to close his shop. We were so use to going there for supplies, especially on the weekends. But, like he said, there wasn't enough customers to keep it open, especially now there's a few cars on the go."
End of this segment
(A special Thank-you
to the
late Douglas Roberts and his wife for
providing information on the history of Wild Cove, which was incorporated into the
imaginary story, above. Doug had many interesting stories about the community of Wild
Cove. Doug was the second oldest resident of Wild Cove)
If you have some interesting history or story relating to Wild Cove, Twillingate, we would invite you to share it with our web site viewers. Please e-mail it in to our webmaster to have it included on this website. Thank you.
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