THE PITSIULAK AND CREW

In our first field year, 2001, we put to sea from Long Island, Newfoundland, homeport of the Smithsonian's Research Vessel Pitsiulak (Inuit for 'black guillemot'—a northern seabird of the auk family with a fast wing beat) and of its skipper, Perry Colbourne.

This sign, "Welcome to Long Island, Newfoundland", greets visitors to Perry's home town at Lushes Bight, near Notre Dame Bay, and shows the ferry that for years has been the lifeline to the mainland. Soon the ferry is to be replaced with a causeway

Long Island , Newfoundland

Coming and going between Pitsiulak's home port in Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, around the northern tip of Newfoundland, and across the Gulf of St. Lawrence—a sea onto itself—is a crossing that can test even the most experienced 'sea legs.' On our return trip home in 2002, we encountered fierce winds and seas at night off Blanc Sablon. A couple days later we slipped into port in Newfoundland only minutes before a hurricane struck, and we encountered similar conditions in 2003. Even though the Gulf Lower North Shore tends to be more 'civil', we have had many exciting adventures there as well. Those members of the crew prone to sea sickness have developed unique strategies for reducing the risk: in 2002, Alyssa Fisher regularly carried a box of Cheerios and a spare rubber boot. Matt Gallon and Cristie Boone wore brass finger rings. Will's method is to chew on hard tack—Newfoundland's own "Purity Hard Bread Biscuits." No high-tech pills or patches here!

Pitsiulak at anchor along Lower North Shore

Living aboard the 51-foot long Pitsiulak for almost two months, the crew of 6-8 staff and students learned quickly how to work together. Bill planned overall strategy and was in charge of the speedboat, which was a real nuisance when being towed astern in rough weather. Perry skippered the boat and fixed whatever needed repair; Cristie Boone assisted Perry with navigation; and everyone pitched in on deck work, docking, and cleaning details. All took turns at cooking—usually with gourmet results.

Perry helped provision our food stores with “country food” that he put up at home and shared with us as the heart of our larder.  These foods included bottled (canned) moose, caribou, and seal, as well as plum and bakeapple jams.  From villages, passing boats, and sometimes our own fishing, we obtained turbot, cod, mackerel, halibut, snow crab, and lobster.
 
When we got sick of all that fish, Perry ran for Paul Rowsell's frozen meat locker and prepared a mean beef
roast, with dumplings, turnips, carrots, and potatoes. Perry's real love, however, became evident when we
came into bakeapple territory, where he disappeared into the hills and bakeapple bogs for days at a time
while we worked at the sites.

Alyssa Fisher and her favorite 'sea' food

Some of our best times have been spent eating buckets of freshly-steamed snow crab, washed down with whatever brew can be found in Harrington Harbour—usually "red" (Canadian) or "blue" (Labatt). When there is Ricker's Red, we feel fortunate indeed—except for Perry, who will accept no substitute for Labatt.

Bakeapple (Rubus chaemamorus), an INFAMOUS Subarctic berry

Our northern fruit of choice, bakeapple, is an orange to pink-colored member of the rose family which has one berry on each four-inch high plant. It is the primary berry of Subarctic Québec, Newfoundland, and Labrador, and is found—and eaten—everywhere around the circumpolar north.

Two members of the crew are fortunate—navigator Christie Boone and photographer Will Richard both have birthdays during the expedition.  Bakeapples usually figure strongly in those celebrations. We can assure you, there is nothing like a bannock cake with fresh bakeapples, the birthday-cake-of-choice for the photographer. For dessert when in town, bakeapples with Carnation milk or ice cream are an unbeatable treat, second only to—well—lobster. Well, then there are some people who do not like bakeapple.