Nomad's Travels: Facheux Bay Newfoundland

Allens Cove

The mile wide entrance to Facheux Bay leads into the largest fjord on the south coast of Newfoundland. Although it is very open, good protection can be found by anchoring in either of the two coves or the head of the bay where depths decrease. The main body of the bay is too deep to anchor in except for a few ledges scattered along the edge, usually indicated by a small beach. The shore is very steep through most of the area, making it possible to lay alongside the cliffs with the boat.There are a few small hunting cabins scattered around the area, but I saw no people other than small fishing boat that was working in the area.I anchored at first in Allen's cove as the wind

Allens Cove with less fog

was from that side of the bay. I explored the area in the dinghy and located the waterfall that I could hear from the boat. It had easy access from the water and several small pools in the rocks leading down to bay. This was a great opportunity for laundry with unlimited fresh running water. Washing a huge pile of laundry can actually be fun sometimes! I rowed upstream as far as I could and hiked some distance further using the streambed as a wilderness highway into the interior. This route is popular with wildlife too. I met a black bear headed downstream and after checking each other out, we both headed in opposite directions quickly.If you zoom in on the picture

The stream at the end of Allens Cove

the bears rear end can be seen disappearing into the woods on the right. That was close enough. The next morning the wind shifted leaving me with my stern heading to the very shallow end of the cove, so I picked up the anchor and moved three miles across the bay to Brent's cove in very dense fog. There was an abandoned hunting lodge and another streambed to explore. As is typical here the bottom goes from deep to shoal very quickly, so I had to anchor quite a ways out from the end. It was challenging even in the dinghy to get to the stream as there were many large boulders just below the surface. Exploring the old lodge was fun, the inside still in great shape

Waterfall in Allens Cove

even though the stairs up to the lodge and the boardwalk were disintegrating. There was a generator in an outbuilding that looked like it would run with a new starting battery. I relaxed in the lodge for awhile reading hunting magazines from the '90s and noted that the food remaining in the kitchen had use by dates from 2006.It looks as though the only people that have been here since then have been a few visiting sailors. I could find no blueberries here, but the entire lodge area was overgrown with blackberry bushes. I collected a large tub of them while keeping a good lookout for bears and talking to myself loudly so they would not be surprised by my presence. Judging from the

Abandoned hunting lodge in Brent's cove

large quantity of bear droppings , this is a very popular spot for bears. This was to be my last stop in Newfoundland. The weather was clearing and it was time to turn south and head for the French island of Miquelon.