The Gander River Was Our Highway

 

Gander River Boat

While in the Gander Library in Newfoundland last week I noticed a brochure/poster explaining the tradition of the Gander River Boat/Canoe. This river flows out from the sizeable Gander Lake (56 km long) to Notre Dame Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The river is wide at points but it is treacherously rocky and requires considerable skill to navigate. The Gander Bay boats were cleverly adapted for the conditions, narrower than a punt, and while they were originally poled along the river they were eventually redesigned to take a 20 horsepower engine. Many members of two of my outport congregations of the early 1980s owned these boats and used them to guide fishers at lodges along the river, owned by forestry companies for the benefit of their corporate clients. 

Seeing this brochure brought back memories from our time there. Two of the people featured we knew back then. 

One of my memories is humorous, even though it seemed deadly serious at the time. I discovered that the Gander Bay United congregation was raffling off one of the boats to raise money to meet the congregational budget. This was against United Church policy and when I brought it up with the treasurer I could see from her face that she'd hoped that I wouldn't find out what they were up to. As a newly ordained minister I was very earnest and phoned one of our Conference officials about how to proceed. He gently talked me off the ledge and suggested that there was no point in trying to stop what was already well underway. It was good advice and I chuckle about it now. 

Another memory is of us travelling up the river in one of those boats with a couple from the same congregation who took us overnight to their cabin. People were often pleasantly surprised by our enthusiasm as mainlanders for trips out to islands and jigging for cod and other adventures. We were 25-year-olds and we loved these outings.

Our host attempted a tutorial on the fine art of fly fishing for the salmon of the Gander River but I was an abysmal failure. At one point I asked if I needed a license to do this and the answer was yes. But with a grin and a shrug he said "I'm the conservation officer, so who's going to catch you?" It was a good point, and those salmon were safe from me anyway. 

Here is my confession, 40-odd years later. I loved the lines of those boats, so much like a canoe, and I coveted one, even though owning one would have been totally impractical. If I'd been able to figure out how to anonymously buy a couple of tickets on the raffle I probably would have done so!