At 92-years-old, Captain Matthew Mitchell's memory is still as sharp as a whip.
The native of Port au Bras, who has lived in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, for more than three quarters of a century, can vividly recall the events of Nov. 18, 1929.
The date, 80-years-ago tomorrow, is one of infamy on the Burin Peninsula. That evening, the water was sucked out of several harbours on the peninsula's eastern side, as a series of three giant waves - tsunamis - pummeled numerous communities.
The natural disaster, which was the result of a landslide caused by an earthquake in the Atlantic Ocean, killed 28 and left many people homeless.
Some 50 communities were affected and property damage estimates were upwards of $1 million.
Capt. Mitchell remembered "It was a lot goings on, I'll tell you."
A boy of 12 at the time, he indicated he and his school chums were on their way home from school on a beautiful November day when they felt the ground begin to shake violently.
"We didn't know what was going on."
It was some two hours later when the harbour emptied, and as Capt. Mitchell put it, "then we got the water."
WALL OF WATER
"I can remember there was an older gentleman going around there picking up a collection for something, and we were all into my uncle's house. I know we had supper there that evening and we were all in there listening to the yarning."
His aunt heard the commotion and they went outside to see what was happening. Looking out, he said you "could see the shadow of the boats, the masts and everything," schooners turned over on their sides.
The water was nowhere to be seen.
Capt. Mitchell indicated the men then ventured down to the beach, with the young boys following closely behind. They didn't get very far when they saw "this wall of water coming," and took off for higher ground.
Afterwards, he explained "We didn't have anything left in the harbour at all. There was one store, I think, on the beach."
He noted one vessel did survive, a boat from Marystown, captained by a man from Port au Bras, which had been anchored in the outside harbour.
"She was the only one that survived it. When it was all over, she was pretty well in the same place as she started from."
Capt. Mitchell acknowledged the community was "a hard looking place" the next day.
"It was really a sad time."
The outport was among the worst hit both in terms of property destroyed and lives lost, with eight souls perishing, including his own aunt and cousin - Mrs. Vincent Kelly and her daughter - his father's sister.
"It was a long time ago, but I'll always remember. I'll never forget the goings on there."
SUBJECT OF BOOK
Capt. Mitchell was recently the subject of Nova Scotia author France Jewel Dickson's second book, which includes a chapter on his recollections of the 1929 Tsunami.
Released in September by Pottersfield Press, the book, entitled 'Skipper: The Sea Yarns of Captain Matthew Mitchell', chronicles his life from growing up on the Burin Peninsula, through a 45-year fishing career, followed by another three decades as shore captain for the Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic. He retired at age 90, just two years ago.
According to information on the museum's website ('www.museum.gov.ns.ca/fma/dories.html'), Capt. Mitchell left Port aux Bras at age 16 for Lunenberg in January 1934 aboard the 'Silver Arrow', fishing in dories as they went. He had already been fishing for a couple years at the time.
In the years that followed, he was a crewmember aboard numerous ships, including the 'Bessemer', the 'Alcala', the 'Marjorie and Dorothy', the 'Bluenose' and the 'Brenda Marguerite'.
In 1947, he joined the wooden side trawler the 'Cape North' - one of two ships deemed the first successful trawlers to fish from Lunenberg - as a deckhand. Capt. Mitchell spent 19 years aboard the ship and was captain for a decade.
Upon his retirement in the mid-1970s, he was asked to take over the position of shore captain at the museum.
Capt. Mitchell married the late Olive Cook in 1939 and the couple settled in Lunenburg where they had four children together.
LOCAL LEGEND
Ms. Dickson, following up on a similar idea of her first book released about two years ago, 'The DEW Line Years: Voices From the Coldest Cold War', decided her next work would focus on the fishing industry.
As it turned out, Capt. Mitchell already had a collection of his stories written down for posterity's sake.
Ms. Dickson explained it just needed to be fleshed out more and reworked into a smooth read for an audience.
"When I met with him - just coincidentally he was the first fisherman I approached with a view to doing a collection of stories - they showed me what they had and I thought with some work there was a book there if he agreed to have it published.
"So, that's how we started working together."
She indicated Capt. Mitchell has "a lot of interesting stories" and "has an amazing memory."
She noted he is particularly well known around the Lunenberg area, and indicated he has also made contacts all around the world through his time at the museum - many of whom keep in touch with him regularly.
"He's quite a local legend."
.jpg)
.jpg)
