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Anonymous
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From the land of the Bluenose....with passport and a Cape Breton-English dictionary in hand Pat and I headed to Sydney on a four day excursion that included a trip to the Scatterie Islands. French Dave made the trip from Chetticamp with Max (the bilingual wonder dog) and picked me up early Wednesday morning and we drove to Main au Deaux (or however it's spelt) where we meet up with Donnie and three of his friends. From there it was a 35 minute boat ride to the island which is surrounded by shoals, reefs, ever present fog banks and currents making it a very difficult if not dangerous trip for any one not familar with the seas in this part of the world. The trip wasn't without incidents as this here bouy did an aweful job on his noggin banging it on a stainless steel pulley of some sort. Everyone save for Max got a laugh out of that.
We landed on a pristine beach and unloaded our gear thinking that the 2 mile trip across the island would be an arduous chore for sure. Luck was in the cards as a fellow who was spending some quality time with his dog, Goldie (big sucker of a lab)on the island happened by with a quad runner and gave us permission to sleep in the converted boat shack instead of pitching the tents. Even better was that Tom agreed to drive us around the island which covers 9 miles in length. Tom also added his version on the colourful history of the island as well as a few spots that might be worth a look see . So after stowing the gear in the shack it was off to the other side of the island where the fishing post used to be. Took Tom several trips to get us all there but later that day added a trailer to his machine. First time ever for this bouy on one of those. Cross that off the list and that leaves a snowmobile and a jet ski.Was neat to watch Tom navigate the narrow roads and dodge rabbits that abound on the island.
Donnie and French Dave paired up and headed to a beach where Donnie had found 1600's French silver the year before. I was lucky enough to be paired with Willy who was a spry bouy in his 60's who swung a Whites and found the first French of the day...1856 along with a 1904 fish scale and 1919 large cent. Stamina must have been that guys middle name as he swung that machine all day and would make the Energizer Bunny envious. This bouy managed only 2 small USA 1920 pennies. The other Donnie and Elwood hit an area that netted them half a dozen large pennies whereas Donnie and French dave returned with three toasty French coppers.
Back at the shack we had supper after a full day of detecting in the ever changing weather that was offered by the island, swapped stories of finds and planned the next days attack. Sort of missed Mr. Bud Wiser not coming due to weight restrictions but did have a most pleasant conversation with Max and Brandy (Oak Keg..medicinal).
After a hard night of sleeping on wooden slats and listening to Max "snore" it was up bright and early to catch our ride on the Scattery Express. This time I teamed up with French Dave who hit the finds of the day in the form of two artillary buttons and a "flaming Bomb" insignia along with a few large cents whereas in my haze I had unearthed a musket trigger guard (complete) and of course......more small USA pennies. Elwood and Donnie hit a deposit of large cents including a very nice Victorian one plus a few Edward dimes.
The day was drawing to an end and our "ship' was due to return at 1600 hrs. Through the fog banks and breath taking scenery of the island we spotted the John and Jill (if I recall right) off the coast dropping a line and catching a few macheral as French Dave and Max where picking strawberries that literally plastered the entire island. Donnie and I took the last few moments to hit a field near what used to be home to the church when I hit my only half decent coin of the hunt which was a 1910 dime. In total we found 45 coins including 4 French, three silver and only a handful of modern style pennies that now were spirited away in my pocket.
It was nice to be heading back to the wharf and along the way we saw countless numbers of seals doing whatever it is seals do plus a great view of the island which had been our home for the past few days.
Back at the wharf we said our good byes and thanked Donnie for the invite. Super group of bouys...even for Capers!
French Dave dropped me back in Sydney where I was staying, with Max giving me a big wet kiss before they resumed their journey back to Chetticamp.
That evening along with our host, Pat and I were treated to the talent on the Boardwalk where locals set up and play native, cowboy and just about any other kind of music one can think of.
Next morning it was back to the mainland via Kelly's Mountain and Baddeck where I unfortunatly settled a long standing feud with Nova Scotian wildlife adding a crow hood ornament to Pat's brand new car.
Can't get the photos to post on this message so look to next thread so please wait till I get all 5 parts posted to respond!
We landed on a pristine beach and unloaded our gear thinking that the 2 mile trip across the island would be an arduous chore for sure. Luck was in the cards as a fellow who was spending some quality time with his dog, Goldie (big sucker of a lab)on the island happened by with a quad runner and gave us permission to sleep in the converted boat shack instead of pitching the tents. Even better was that Tom agreed to drive us around the island which covers 9 miles in length. Tom also added his version on the colourful history of the island as well as a few spots that might be worth a look see . So after stowing the gear in the shack it was off to the other side of the island where the fishing post used to be. Took Tom several trips to get us all there but later that day added a trailer to his machine. First time ever for this bouy on one of those. Cross that off the list and that leaves a snowmobile and a jet ski.Was neat to watch Tom navigate the narrow roads and dodge rabbits that abound on the island.
Donnie and French Dave paired up and headed to a beach where Donnie had found 1600's French silver the year before. I was lucky enough to be paired with Willy who was a spry bouy in his 60's who swung a Whites and found the first French of the day...1856 along with a 1904 fish scale and 1919 large cent. Stamina must have been that guys middle name as he swung that machine all day and would make the Energizer Bunny envious. This bouy managed only 2 small USA 1920 pennies. The other Donnie and Elwood hit an area that netted them half a dozen large pennies whereas Donnie and French dave returned with three toasty French coppers.
Back at the shack we had supper after a full day of detecting in the ever changing weather that was offered by the island, swapped stories of finds and planned the next days attack. Sort of missed Mr. Bud Wiser not coming due to weight restrictions but did have a most pleasant conversation with Max and Brandy (Oak Keg..medicinal).
After a hard night of sleeping on wooden slats and listening to Max "snore" it was up bright and early to catch our ride on the Scattery Express. This time I teamed up with French Dave who hit the finds of the day in the form of two artillary buttons and a "flaming Bomb" insignia along with a few large cents whereas in my haze I had unearthed a musket trigger guard (complete) and of course......more small USA pennies. Elwood and Donnie hit a deposit of large cents including a very nice Victorian one plus a few Edward dimes.
The day was drawing to an end and our "ship' was due to return at 1600 hrs. Through the fog banks and breath taking scenery of the island we spotted the John and Jill (if I recall right) off the coast dropping a line and catching a few macheral as French Dave and Max where picking strawberries that literally plastered the entire island. Donnie and I took the last few moments to hit a field near what used to be home to the church when I hit my only half decent coin of the hunt which was a 1910 dime. In total we found 45 coins including 4 French, three silver and only a handful of modern style pennies that now were spirited away in my pocket.
It was nice to be heading back to the wharf and along the way we saw countless numbers of seals doing whatever it is seals do plus a great view of the island which had been our home for the past few days.
Back at the wharf we said our good byes and thanked Donnie for the invite. Super group of bouys...even for Capers!
French Dave dropped me back in Sydney where I was staying, with Max giving me a big wet kiss before they resumed their journey back to Chetticamp.
That evening along with our host, Pat and I were treated to the talent on the Boardwalk where locals set up and play native, cowboy and just about any other kind of music one can think of.
Next morning it was back to the mainland via Kelly's Mountain and Baddeck where I unfortunatly settled a long standing feud with Nova Scotian wildlife adding a crow hood ornament to Pat's brand new car.
Can't get the photos to post on this message so look to next thread so please wait till I get all 5 parts posted to respond!
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