John Gillett - Leaving for the Seal Hunt: The Life of a Swiler

Leaving for the

Seal Hunt

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The Life of a Swiler

John Gillett

Flanker Press Limited

St. Johns

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Gillett, John, 1947-, author

Leaving for the seal hunt : the life of a swiler / John Gillett.

Includes index.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-77117-413-8 (pbk.).--ISBN 978-1-77117-414-5 (epub).--

ISBN 978-1-77117-415-2 (kindle).--ISBN 978-1-77117-416-9 (pdf)

1. Gillett, John, 1947-. 2. Sealers (Persons)--Newfoundland and

Labrador--Biography. 3. Sealing--Newfoundland and Labrador--

History. I. Title.

SH362.G56 2015 639.29092 C2015-900370-9

C2015-900371-7

2015 John Gillett

all rights reserved. No part of the work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic or mechanicalwithout the written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed to Access Copyright, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency, 1 Yonge Street, Suite 800, Toronto, ON M5E 1E5. This applies to classroom use as well.

Printed in Canada

Cover Design by Graham Blair

Flanker Press Ltd.

PO Box 2522, Station C

St. Johns, NL

Canada

Telephone: (709) 739-4477 Fax: (709) 739-4420 Toll-free: 1-866-739-4420

www.flankerpress.com

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation for our publishing activities. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country. Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. Lan dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de lart dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

This book is dedicated to the thousands of families who have lost loved ones in the pursuit of earning a living from the sea and endangering themselves on the ice floes. Fishermen living in the northwest Atlantic have had to brave one of the harshest environments in the world as they endeavoured to eke out a living from the limited resources available in their small outport fishing communities.

How better to remember the legacy of those who have lost their life at sea than to record and pass on their stories to current and future generations?

Contents

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Sealing Stories

Swatching and Tragedy

My Adult Life as a Sealer

Leaving St. Johns for the Seal Hunt

Whip-Line, Flagging, Getting Stuck in the Ice,

and Heading Home

A Very Close Call

Second Trip on the Arctic Endeavour

Loss of the Sea Breeze

Sealing on the A and K

The Loss of Two Good Men to the Sea and Getting My Boat Ready

Second Trip on the Gillesport Hawk

Steamed Right to St. Barbe for Nothing

Sealing around Belle Isle, Sinking of the Speedboat,

and Men in the Water

Animal Rights, Control, and DFO Micromanagement

Ordered in Through a Heavy Icefield Without an Escort

Fuel Pump Trouble

We Are Going to Clean up the Newfoundland Fishery

No Buyer for Seals

Bits and Pieces of the Canadian Seal Hunt

Introduction

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I n the harsh, bitter, cold environment we work in, seal harvesting and fishing are two of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The North Atlantic has no friends, it just makes you believe it is your friend when it offers up its beauty and bounty. Without notice it can turn ugly, a ravenous enemy ready to devour! It doesnt matter if you are the greatest or the worst fishing captain in the North Atlantic: if the sea wants you, it will get you.

The outports around Newfoundland and Labrador have many a story to tell about the loss of life at sea. I have heard too many sad tales of lives lost around my beloved province, and the hardships people have had to overcome to survive in remote places.

I trust my story will help you understand a little of our culture and our way of life over the centuries.

I was born and reared in the small outport of Harts Cove, Durrell, Newfoundland. The sea became a way of life for me. At the tender age of eight, I would take trips with my father, George Gillett, who was captain of the schooner Grace Boehner . As a young boy it was very exciting for me to ride in the vessel as we delivered coal and flour that was brought in from Sydney, Nova Scotia, to the outports of White Bay and Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland. That schooner triggered my love affair with the sea. Summers thereafter would be spent going fishing on good days with the local fishermen from the cove, handling and helping to haul the cod traps or cleaning the fish.

I had just turned sixteen when I went to sea on a ship called the El Amigo , a cargo boat that carried lobsters from Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, on up to Gloucester, Massachusetts, then later collected salt fish from around Newfoundland. As a young fellow I started getting itchy feet and decided it was time to throw down the life of a fisherman in pursuit of a better and easier way of life. I made the decision to head to the big city of Toronto, where I stayed but a few short years. However, the vision of making my fortune seemed to dwindle within a short passing of time. The sea continued to beckon me and, try as I might, I could not escape the pull of the sea and the island we now refer to as the The Rock.

On my return to Newfoundland, I was fortunate enough to secure a berth on a ship carrying freight to the Arctic. When the season ended, I made the decision to return to school to become a journeyman electrician. Since work was not so plentiful at that time, I was able to subsidize my income by fishing and sealing.

Fishing continued to lure me, and in late 1970 I laid down my books and tools and gave up electrical work to become a full-time fisherman, fishing salmon and cod on the Labrador and with cod traps on Belle Isle. Most of my fishing, though, centred around my hometown of Durrell. I also harvested seals there as well, whenever I could. My favourite method of fishing commercially was using the cod trap, but now this method of fishing is no longer permitted by law.

I am married to Linda Roberts and we have two children, Sherry and Richard, and five grandchildren: Andrew Boyd; Rebbecca Boyd; Abbigail Gillett; Victoria Gillett; and Cameron Gillett. Richard developed a keen love of the sea and now follows in my footsteps, in the Gillett tradition.

Sealing Stories

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I remember growing up in Twillingate, Newfoundland, in the 1950s when fishermen and old sealing skippers would visit our home to yarn with my father, Captain George Gillett. My role models growing up in outport Newfoundland were no different than most of the other peoples heroes who lived by the sea. These were the best fishermen, bird hunters, sealers, boat builders, and loggers. This was what made us who we were, hard-working people, always striving to be the best in our work, like these skilled men.