PEI Day 3

We woke, ripped and ready to go... well... sort of. Turns out that trying to do everything you can on a trip is kind of tiring, and by this point we were starting to feel it. It was a late night, and because of the screaming ankle biters at the campground it was an early morning. We had our customary bacon and eggs and then set out to complete what we could not the day before.

Due to our Jerusalem related issues we did not complete going through the National Park. This might have been ok, but when we asked the campground guy where the best beaches were to see... he said there. So we borrowed the park pass for another day and headed back to where we left off.

We did not stop at every little beach to see what was there, but we stopped at plenty, and the campground man was right. The beaches were spectacular. The sand on PEI is killer soft, and more often than not it is bright red. On one of our stops we came across a lonely lighthouse with a plaque on the side. It spoke of the "Yankee Gale" which was an enormous storm starting October 3, 1951. The storm wrecked at least 74 ships and killed at least 150 crew.

Lighthouse

Out of the park, we had spent a significant time in the middleish part of PEI. That was great, but we had aspirations of seeing as much of the island as possible. We took to the highway and began to drive east. We marveled at the countryside as we continued further east and eventually made it to the coast. We stopped in a town called Souris to grab some ham and bread and then continued on to the first beach we could find. We set up our camping chairs and settled in for an enjoyable lunch while we watched the ferry pull out on its way to Nova Scotia.

It was a good afternoon but we were running out of time for the day's main events. We headed to Charlottetown once again. In the city we had a few minutes to walk around, but the only thing that we really saw was that we needed more time to see the city. Some of the glaring sights were in our line of view, but Charlottetown certainly has much more to offer than we took her for.

St. Dunstan's Bascilica

War Memorial

"Erected by the citizens of Charlottetown in memory of those

from Prince Edward Island who gloriously laid down their

lives in the Great War and honour forevermore

of those who served therein"

Inscription (From In Flanders Fields)

"To you from failing hands we throw

the torch be yours to hold it high."

Church

Running our of time we headed to the water. We were to meet a lobster fisherman who would take us on his boat. The season was over, but we would still get a chance to see how the fishermen did there job, and to learn about lobster.

The Captain's name was Mark and he and his First Mate Cody welcomed us to the Top Notch. The boat had recently been converted from being ready to fish to being ready to host tours (a metamorphosis that occurs every year) with a canopy over the deck and two picnic tables on board. Us and the other couple boarded and then we were on our way.

The first trap that they took us to (and hauled out of the water) was filled with crabs. The crabs were bycatch from the lobster season as they crawled into the trap with the lobster. The fishermen are allowed to keep the crabs in the trap until the crabbing season starts, but their value is minimal at best. We still had the opportunity to pick up the crabs and see how the lobster trap worked.

Crab Trap

We learned some very interesting things about the lobster industry. A fisherman needs a licence to fish lobster. No new licences are ever issued to help preserve the industry. That means that new lobster fishermen need to buy a licence from a retiring fisherman. These often cost five-hundred-plus thousand dollars. Once the fisherman has the licence that does not mean he can set his traps anywhere. The lobster industry is self-policing in that the fishermen have divvied up the areas. If you bought a licence, you could fish where that fisherman fished, but if you put your traps in another area, they will "magically" disappear. Fishermen on PEI are allowed 300 traps and often work hours like 3:00 am until 3:00 pm. Female lobsters with eggs must be thrown back as well as lobsters that are too small.

Red Lobster

Lobsters of the Top Notch

We also learned something else that is interesting. Not all lobster are red (or whatever browny colour they are in the wild). There are also lobster that are red while they are still alive (see below), and there are blue lobster. We had the pleasure of seeing a red lobster which is a 1 in a 100,000 phenomenon, and we saw a picture of a blue lobster. A blue lobster is an albino, and in 8 years of fishing Mark has only ever caught one. In the end they all turn red when they are cooked, but it is interesting to see.

We pulled out one more trap, and inside was a 13 lb lobster. One interesting point is that scientists do not know how long lobsters live. It is actually possible that lobsters can live indefinitely due to an ability to not only regenerate their limbs, but their organs, and DNA. The largest lobster ever caught was 44.4 lbs (caught in Nova Scotia) and they believe that it was possibly well over 100 years old. This lobster, Willy, was huge and must have been many years old, especially when you consider that the lobster you get at the supermarket could already be over 7 years old!

Lighthouse from the Cove

We pulled the Top Notch into a calm cove and settled in for supper. While we waited Mark and Cody prepared our supper. On PEI they eat their lobster cold, so when in Rome...

Lobster Dinner

I have eaten my fair share of lobster, but not everyday like a lobster fisherman, so when Mark offered to shell my lobster I could not resist. When I do it, it is a huge disaster. I get the meat out, but the collateral damage is well... my kitchen... Mark graciously let me film his shelling. He said that everyone does it differently, but his method is certainly better than mine.

How to Shell a Lobster - Captain Mark

If you ever make it to PEI I highly recommend this tour. It is well worth the price. For more information click here.

The View

Saying good-bye to a fantastic supper and fantastic view we were ushered back to the Charlottetown harbour. We made it back to Jerusalem and had to drive half nearly all of the way across PEI to get to the campground!

20 minutes later we returned. I had a fire with some hot dogs and smores and then headed to bed.