Sloop Cove

Back taxi to position for departure (self timer)

Flew down the Churchill River yesterday and landed near a famous place called Sloop Cove.  It was "the preferred parking spot" here in the 1700's  during the harsh winters  in order to protect the ships  from the immense and deadly crushing forces of the shifting pack ice.

Sloop Cove, looking southeast across the Churchill River

I landed on a beach a little ways away - it was about 1,000 feet long.  The Beaver was somewhat light with 2/3 fuel and little cargo, so with a 20 kts headwind from the east off Hudson Bay, it was a snap.  Only had to hike a mile back up river.

Old iron ring bolt used to secure ship

The site is famous because of the inscriptions left there by the men who lived at the Prince of Wales Fort in the 1700's and worked with the boats used by the Hudson's Bay Company. Sloop Cove is a sheltered nook situated a few kilometers from the Fort on the west side of the river. Sloops were wooden sailing vessels used during the fur trade for exploration, whaling expeditions and northern trading attempts with the Inuit.

Inscription of Samuel Hearne when he was 22 ("Sl Hearne. July ye 1, 1767")

The lichen covered rocks bear the names carved into the stone by the HBC Company men. They were sailors, harpooners, shipwrights, carpenters, shipmates, captains, laborers and a servant. The name most people would recognize is that of Samuel Hearne, the famous English explorer and naturalist.  He was 22 years old when he carved his name at Sloop Cove.

Samuel Hearne   
Feb. 1745 – Nov. 1792

If you want to see pictures of most of the other names there, go to this link:  Sloop Cove Inscriptions  

Ready for takeoff departure, and if you don't make the takeoff, it doesn't count...     (Pic taken before the hike to the site.  When I returned a couple of hours later, the tide was coming up).