Nomad's Travels: Grand Bruit, Newfoundland


The abandoned outport , Grand Bruit

Government dock for Nomad

Visiting Grand Bruit was a remakable, if somewhat disconcerting experience.First, a little background information to put this in perspective. Newfoundland has always been populated by fishermen, and those engaged in the near shore fisheries settled where the fishing was good so they could reach their preferred fishing areas without spending a lot of time rowing or sailing there. Whole communities grew in these areas and could only be reached by boat or extensive backcountry travel on foot. With the advent of motorized travel, the Trans Canada Highway was pushed across Newfoundland linking the larger towns, but it was not possible to put roads through to the more remote communities. Even today in the few surviving outports access is by the government run ferry service, which also brings in supplies. Children are educated locally until about high school age then sent to boarding schools in the larger towns to complete their education. The Canadian government decided long ago that it was to expensive to provide services to these remote communities and has been trying to get people to leave their villages and move into more accessible towns such as Burgeo and Port aux Basque, offering them ever increasing

Local history

buyouts to leave their homes. Apparently, it is worth removing families from their homes where they have lived for many generations to save a few dollars.

Streets for people, no cars in the outports

Grand Bruit was the most recently abandoned outport, its residents departed in 2010. The infrastructure is still in good condition as are most of the buildings, although some of the older buildings are beginning to deteriorate. Some are still used occasionally for vacation homes. Many are locked up with the interiors looking like the residents had just left a few moments ago. Others have moved everything out . Some were unlocked and were still furnished right down to family pictures on the wall with the house beginning to fall apart.I saw a note in one house that read "take anything you want now, it's free. Please close the door in case we make it home someday." and there was a picture of an older couple on the countertop. Very sad!

I signed the guestbook in the church and read through it. Some visitors were the past residents, many were cruising people. The only way to get to Grand Bruit now is on your own boat or by a long skidoo trip in the wintertime from Burgeo. I visited the local cemetery where many of the gravestones had common family names as most have lived there for many generations. The hiking trails north of town were becoming overgrown but were still easy to follow. With no people around the

Guestbook in the church

wildlife comes right into town, there were fresh moose and caribou tracks everywhere.
The harbor provides good protection from all directions except for the southwest. It may be possible to anchor in the cove on the west side for protection from the southwest. The floating dock on the west side was in good condition, but looked a little light duty for a cruising boat. I tied to the more substantial government wharf on the east side of the harbor. With a nearly two meter tidal range, I had to position the stern beyond the end of the dock so the wind generator blades would not be at risk of damage at low tide. It was a odd experience to stand on deck and watch the sunset over an

The road into town from the dock

Careful navigation required

apparently normal town and as it became dark there was not one light to be seen, even the communication tower back in the hills was shut down. With the town bathed in the glow of the moonlight and all those darkened windows looking down on the boat with no sound other than the wind it was an eerie and somewhat disturbing feeling!