Wellman - Final Voyages

He was known to everyone as Big G. It was just one of those funny little nicknames that stuck from the time when Gilles LeBlanc was in grade six and his mom bought him a t-shirt with the words Big Guy on the front. Someone abbreviated it to Big G and, although he was fairly tall, nearly six feet by the time he was in his late teens, he was not a big, bulky fellow. But the nickname stuck anyway, and all his friends knew Gilles as Big G until the day he died on April 10, 2003.

Born in 1979, Gilles LeBlanc from West Pubnico, Nova Scotia, was the kind of son that every mother would wish for, the kind of brother that everyone would want and, although he was not a father, he was the type of young man that every child would want as a dad. He always had a smile for everyone and was constantly available to help anyone at anytime.

His sister Gisele smiles too, especially when she talks about her brother and how much he loved her son, who was just three when Gilles drowned. Gisele says her brother, who was engaged to his high school sweetheart, Colette Saulnier, was anxious to be married and have children. Gilles and Colette bought a piece of land where they planned to build a house and start a family, but until then, Gilles lived at home with his parents to save a little money to put toward his new home.

I have a son, Jacques, who Gilles just adored, Gisele smiles, remembering her brother with great fondness. He was always coming over to visit and play with him. Same when Jacques went over to their house. He [Gilles] was like a kid himself then. Gilles always told Jacques he would show him how to play golf when he got older. Gilles was a big sports fan; he played baseball, badminton, and golf. Gilles and Colette were going to be godparents to my baby son, Andre. He was very excited and looking forward to being a godfather. The baptism was going to be April 20 during the Mass at St. Peters Church. So we went to church on the evening of April 9, the evening before the accident. The priest talked about the role of godparents. We were in the parking lot at the church and Gilles and Colette were leaving and he said to me, I will see you later, and I said, Yeah, Ill see you later. That was the last thing we said to each other.

Gilles started fishing while he was still in school and, according to Gisele, he was going to be a career fisherman. He fished with different people when they needed an extra guy. He started fishing full-time in the spring of 2000. In the fall of 2002, he started fishing with Michel dEntremont. Michel was in the process of building a new boat, so they were renting one. In the spring of 2003, Gilles had completed a Fishing Master Class IV course and was still fishing with Michel that spring. They had the boat the Demiah-Jean. It wasnt a big boat, and there was just the two of them when the accident happened. One of Michels brothers was going to join them in a few weeks to finish the season, explains Gisele.

On Thursday, April 10, morning started pretty much routinely in the LeBlanc household. Gilles was up very early to start the day lobster fishing with his friend Michel. As always, Gilles mom was also up to prepare eggs and toast for her sons breakfast before he left to go to the