Posted on September 21, 2017 under Faces in the Crowd with no comments yet

The one that didn’t get away.

 

“ You get to meet some amazing people from different parts of the world.”

Meet Rob Boyd.

To say that fishing is “ in the blood’ would be an understatement for Rob Boyd and many others like him along St. George’s Bay. His father and grandfather fished for years out of Cribbon’s Point. As children, he and his brother Mark were on the boats all the time observing and learning the tricks of the trade and the meaning of hard work.

Commercial fishing has always been an unpredictable business so Rob obtained a university education in Business just to make sure he had something tucked away in case fishing didn’t work out.

Acquiring a fishing license is no mean feat so when a fisherman died in 2001, he and Mark snapped up the license and got into business together.

“ The work is very demanding and stressful. When the catch is landed there are three people to pay: The bank, Revenue Canada and the fishermen. It is not uncommon for there to be little or nothing after taking care of the first two.”

In the early days, they knew nothing about the tuna fishery. The first tuna they ever caught was close to 1000 pounds. They weren’t even sure how to land it and had to call a friend to come and help them. Call it beginner’s luck or whatever, but the boys thought that they would become millionaires overnight. “ We quickly learned that you could go an entire season without landing a tuna.”

Around 2010-11, a few fishermen in the Maritime provinces started tuna charters. This was in response to the proliferation of tuna in the region. Quotas were reduced and the season shortened. Fisheries officials decided that tuna charters would be acceptable as long as it was based on a catch and release basis.

The Boyd’s commenced their charter business in 2012 and have never looked back. They are fully booked every year and many of their clientele are repeat customers. “ Consumers have high expectations of a quality experience and those of us in the industry do our best to fulfill their needs.” Rob is quick to point out that his wife, Sonya is a key part of the team providing excellent food for their guests.

The economic impact in the region is huge and may be one of the best kept secrets. While lobster continues to be the mainstay for the local fisheries, tuna charters are fast becoming vital cogs in the tourism sector. Hotels, restaurants and  car rentals all benefit from travellers from distant locales.  “Besides the fishing itself, our guests comment on how friendly and laid back people are in this part of the world.”

It would appear that tuna fishing has an addictive element. “ Tuna fishing is more of an illness than a fishery. You keep chasing these crazy fish around all day. Saner people would have packed it in.”

Rob briefly tried his hands at the bagpipes years ago . “ As the first born, I was expected to learn but I didn’t have a musical bone in my body. “  Maybe he’ll pick them up again someday and use them to attract tuna from the bow of his boat rather than using sophisticated tracking devices!

Or maybe not!

 

Posted on September 18, 2017 under Monday Morning Musings with one comment

Antigonight – Ewe wouldn’t believe it!

 ( Photo: Sara Johnson )

 

Isn’t it wonderful that some people see the world through a completely different prism?

I’m talking here about the arts community. And more specifically about the recent Antigonight – Art After Dark extravaganza. If you’ve never been to this event, it’s very difficult to describe. Most of the activities were contained in back lots from Main and College Streets to Chisholm Park. There was dance of all varieties at the gazebo and one could wander through the Art Department up at Mount St. Bernard. There were all kinds of visual arts displays, oversized sheep in costumes, jugglers, bubble blowers and several films and documentaries were being beamed onto the sides of buildings in very unusual locations.

And of course, all of this was carried out in the dark of night.

Pure magic.

However, all areas were well lit as hundreds and hundreds of families wandered aimlessly trying to absorb all of this magic. As I said, I can’t even begin to describe some of the things I saw because they were so unusual. I do know this. Antigonish continues to excel when it comes to the arts. We have so many talented people bordering on genius. To the organizers of Antigonight, I say “ bravo.”

On my morning walk yesterday, I took an old path from the J. Bruce Brown building to our old home on Hillcrest Street. Except there’s no path anymore. The entire field where we once joyfully played baseball and football as children, is now one massive parking lot. Parking is a challenge at St. F.X.. Forty five years ago when I was a student, this was not the case as very few students owned their own vehicles.

That field and the path that used to lead down to the Bishop’s Bowl brings back so many childhood memories. We spent a lot of time trekking through those woods, building forts and just hanging out. That’s what kids did in those days. Those same woods were also a refuge for high school students. The current “ Annex” was once Antigonish High School and often at recess or after school, young teenagers would gather in one of  the small glades, to study, sneak a smoke… or hold hands. Oh my, but life was so much simpler then.

“ Faces in the Crowd” returns this Thursday after a lengthy hiatus. This week’s post will be about the burgeoning tuna charter business. Many folks may not be aware that this is even going on but sources tell me that this is a really big deal ,bringing sports fishing enthusiasts from North America and Europe. These people stay at our hotels, eat in our restaurants and buy souvenirs in our stores.

I want to send a shout out to my former business colleague, Ron Sangster who is hanging up one shingle and replacing it with another at the end of this week. Ron has been in the insurance, investment and financial planning business for decades and is retiring. In an earlier life, he taught carpentry at the Community College and will now pursue his love of carpentry full time.  Best of luck, Ron and congratulations.

Have a great week.

P.S.  Just when you think you’ve seen everything. I have been going to the Cathedral for 66 years. I have never seen anyone walk into the church, ( he wasn’t from here ) sporting a large coffee from one of the local coffee establishments. He casually drank the coffee and finished the contents just before communion!

Posted on September 14, 2017 under Thursday Tidbits with 2 comments

Universite Sainte Anne – Church Point

 

Simplicity.

Noun . “ A thing that is plain, natural or easy to understand.”

I think most of us have a habit of making life more complicated than it really is. Over the past several days, I noticed several things that made me realize that keeping things simple is indeed a worthy goal.

It all started with a harmless report from a radiologist. Like so many of us seniors, I have some pain issues. I had coffee with a friend last week who has had serious pain issues most of her life. Understanding anyone else’s pain is impossible just as it is for them to understand ours. I digress. I have chronic pain in my back and my neck. My wife says that she has a constant pain in her arse that started about 35 years ago!

I had some x-rays done last week. I’m not much on medical jargon but it didn’t take me long to understand the overall conclusion. The radiologist could have written one line instead of an gospel by simply stating, “ You’re getting old and your body is wearing out.”

And then there was Hurricane Irma. Confession. I got sucked into the vortex of CNN. I have watched maybe 2 hours of television since my return from India in early May. When I heard that the hurricane was barrelling down on the west coast of Florida and would likely hit our former time share, I couldn’t resist and turned on the television. I sat there for hours and hours listening to the same thing over and over again, watching reporters lashed by rain and buffeted by the winds. Oh my , how they like to create drama.

Yes. It’s important to get the message out but the ten million people who really needed this information were in the dark. The rest of us were just paying for the advertisers. In my mind, all of this sound and fury could have been captured succinctly in one press release: “ A big hurricane is coming. There will be high winds, heavy rain, storm surges, power outages and flooding. Be safe. “

If you are a Catholic, I am certain that you have sat through one too many long winded homilies. Yes, learning about scripture is helpful to give us context. But some priests get carried away. I remember going to a midnight mass in Cape Breton a long time ago. The priest preached for 35 minutes. A few guys left before he finished. The Three Wise Men?!

I attended a mass the other day. The priest spoke for approximately three minutes. His message was very simple. “Be kind to your neighbor. “ At the end of the day, you have to believe that this is what the journey is all about.

Lentil soup. Lentils, carrots, onions, broth and some spices. Throw them in a pot and simmer for 25 minutes. A simple yet nutritious and tasty meal. I made some the other day. These cool days are definitely “ soup days.”

I hadn’t seen Barb Stegemann in several years. Barb is a local girl who has taken her entrepreneurial skills and turned them into a highly successful business, “ The 7 Virtues.”  Her company “ source (s) fair market natural essential oils from nations rebuilding after war or strife. “ Barb was invited by the Hadhad family to speak at the grand opening of their new chocolate factory last weekend. She only spoke for a few minutes. Her message was simple yet profound. “ The provinces with the most cultural diversity are the strongest economically.”

I should take my own advice. I realize that this was a long winded piece… with a simple message!

I could just as easily have embraced the KISS principle: Keep It Simple Stupid.

Have a great weekend.