Old boat, fresh memories
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The old Simmonds fishing premises in Goose Cove enough fish was landed here to raise 13 children. The shed may not have survived the ravages of time but the boat inside remains in good condition. Photo by Aaron Beswick/Transcontinental Media
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Elizabeth and Michael Simmonds raised 13 children. Pictured are (front, from left) Kay Taylor, Elizabeth Simmonds, Cyril Simmonds; (middle, from left) Leona Russell, Bridget Patey, Margaret Caines, Will Joe Simmonds; (back, from left) Eugene Simmonds,
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The doors of the tumbledown shed remain open, as if still waiting for the return of the cod to launch the trapskiff.
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Michael Simmonds fathered 14 children, 13 of whom survive.
The old Simmonds fishing premises in Goose Cove enough fish was landed here to raise 13 children. The shed may not have survived the ravages of time but the boat inside remains in good condition. Photo by Aaron Beswick/Transcontinental Media
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Powered by a 30 horsepower Yanmar diesel motor, the Simmonds trapskiff could get along.
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Eugene Simmonds (rear) and Sheldon Patey in their fishing gear.
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The Simmonds' fishing premises before the cod moratorium.
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The shed that protected the trapskiff from the weather has succumbed and now traps the boat. Notice the ribs - each one of which was cut out of a tree chosen to fit the shape of the hull.
- Published on January 13, 2010
- Aaron Beswick
By rights, a boat is just a bunch of dead trees, some galvanized nails and a fair-sized amount of human ingenuity.
It's the beating hearts the boat keeps safe above the ocean's grip that matters. It's the countless hours of care that went into its construction. It's the food the fishing boat puts on the table, along with the shoes it buys for little feet and the sugar in your tea.
To a passerby, the old Simmonds stage in Goose Cove may look like a charming relic of an old way of life or a tumbledown pile of rotting wood, forgotten in the wake of a fast-moving world.
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Comments
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- HL
- - July 2, 2010 at 15:05:25
This is a beautiful story - how nice to read something not criminal and death as usual, but true to life and how hard people did work years ago. Now the people work 10-12 weeks and go on EI. Times were better back then because everyone had to pull together, and families and friends meant something.
Well done AARON BESWICK and well done Mrs. Simmonds. Goose Cove is a beautiful and picturesque place. -
- Max
- - July 2, 2010 at 15:01:36
Wonderful story. I too can remember the sun rising behind the boat as we steamed out the cove. Now I work behind a computer all day.....
Thanks for sharing your memories Elizabeth and I hope you can write more like this Aaron. -
- Brendon
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:59:19
I do remember those times Mrs. Simmonds spoke of and even in the 1980's this was very much still the way of life on the tip of the Northern Peninsula. Time has not been kind to that way of life or the communities and people who flourished so happily back then. Most people had no choice but to trade their boats for a trip to Alberta... This story really does bring me back. Thank You... great story...
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- phil
- - July 2, 2010 at 14:45:05
Where else in the world will you find the spirit of man more undaunted or a love with more ingenuity then in those who lived and fished the coastline of Newfoundland and Labrador like this Simmonds family of Goose Cove?
Reading this beautiful article and looking at the old fishing premises and wharf brings a swelling of strength and pride in my chest that is not expressible. A memory of what it was like as a boy growing up on schooners with my father and cod trap fishing on the Labrador in the summer.
There is no greater driving force in the civilized accent of man then that which comes from the pleasure man takes in exercising his own skill. And I know of no greater driving example from pride in skill and strength of character then the fisher people of our past. It is they who made our heritage and gives us our character today.
The leaders and powers of the global world may take away our resource and disrespect our history and who we have been but they cannot change the lesson we as a people have learned.... that truth is found in ones heart and it can only be found there by those who are humble and honest!
Mrs. Elizabeth Simmonds your memory is more then just a memory of the past it is a light for our future. You are an ageless mother to all of us in this beautiful, rugged place. God bless you.
philip earle
carbonear -
- HL
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:55:28
This is a beautiful story - how nice to read something not criminal and death as usual, but true to life and how hard people did work years ago. Now the people work 10-12 weeks and go on EI. Times were better back then because everyone had to pull together, and families and friends meant something.
Well done AARON BESWICK and well done Mrs. Simmonds. Goose Cove is a beautiful and picturesque place. -
- Max
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:50:13
Wonderful story. I too can remember the sun rising behind the boat as we steamed out the cove. Now I work behind a computer all day.....
Thanks for sharing your memories Elizabeth and I hope you can write more like this Aaron. -
- Brendon
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:46:46
I do remember those times Mrs. Simmonds spoke of and even in the 1980's this was very much still the way of life on the tip of the Northern Peninsula. Time has not been kind to that way of life or the communities and people who flourished so happily back then. Most people had no choice but to trade their boats for a trip to Alberta... This story really does bring me back. Thank You... great story...
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- phil
- - July 1, 2010 at 21:24:22
Where else in the world will you find the spirit of man more undaunted or a love with more ingenuity then in those who lived and fished the coastline of Newfoundland and Labrador like this Simmonds family of Goose Cove?
Reading this beautiful article and looking at the old fishing premises and wharf brings a swelling of strength and pride in my chest that is not expressible. A memory of what it was like as a boy growing up on schooners with my father and cod trap fishing on the Labrador in the summer.
There is no greater driving force in the civilized accent of man then that which comes from the pleasure man takes in exercising his own skill. And I know of no greater driving example from pride in skill and strength of character then the fisher people of our past. It is they who made our heritage and gives us our character today.
The leaders and powers of the global world may take away our resource and disrespect our history and who we have been but they cannot change the lesson we as a people have learned.... that truth is found in ones heart and it can only be found there by those who are humble and honest!
Mrs. Elizabeth Simmonds your memory is more then just a memory of the past it is a light for our future. You are an ageless mother to all of us in this beautiful, rugged place. God bless you.
philip earle
carbonear
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