Later still

Seldom Come By is on Fogo Island on the north side of NFL. There is a museum attached to the marina, free entry for moored (paying) boats. Which reminds me, the marina has a great sign on the main (old) building - the F.U. Trading Co Ltd!

The buildings were once a fishermen's co-operative, but with fishing gone, it was bought out and privatised last year, converted to the marina and museum. The largest building houses washroom facilities (no hot water for the shower - J had a cold one - he's such a maaaan!), laundry, and a recreation of the store. Here there are the old store counters and shelves, and numberless files of quantities of local documentation. On the shelves are a collection of objets trouves, all meticulously labelled with the item name, item use, and donor's name. I'm impressed by the amount of work that's been put into this. Included among the items are: a pair of home-made sealskin boots (prob the most interesting item to me), a fish hook straightener, used for - yes! - straightening fish hooks; two large saws for cutting down trees; and a small wooden box, which the label states had various uses. Now, I must admit, some of these descriptions were stating the obvious, which puzzled me somewhat. Until I saw the world map downstairs, with pins stuck in by visitors from all over the world! Even the Antarctic, S Georgia, S Orkneys (been here), China, Burma (haven't been here) - so then the explanations become clear. Cruise ships call here now.

The second shed was more interesting to me - full of old fishing memorabilia, sadly now redundant. (Saw a fishing boat called "Seldom Venture" - not these days, anyway.) The shed smelt of tar and old wood, and took me back to childhood visits to boatyards with my father. On the wall, a notice from 1929 detailing restrictions on cod fishing, so even back then, they were aware it was a finite resource. Gone, all gone, now.