The Decision to Stay and Work

May 13th - 25th 

These last 13 days have been spent mainly at work.  It was our second shift at MOWI and since we are still part-time employees we were only allowed to work 11 days out of the 15-day shift.  That worked out quite nicely for us because it meant that we had two days off in the middle as well as not working the two crew-change days.  It was quite nice to have two days off in the middle of the shift as the 10-hour days of physical work got quite tiring, especially when we also had things that we had to take care of after work at the boat.  

We finally made up our minds about what to do around working this year, and we decided to stay in Ocean Falls and work.  We will become full-time employees with the fish farm and we will get to see it in operation for a full year, which will be very interesting.  On our next shift we will be getting fish into the facility so that will be a whole new learning curve.  

We decided to stay and work for two reasons, one was because it would be quite interesting to see the site in operation and see it through a whole season of fish.  And the second reason was because of the many restrictions that are still in place due to the Covid-19 virus.  We were unsure as to how much cruising we would actually be able to do this year and since it seemed like we would be spending the winter here in Ocean Falls anyways, we decided that it would be nice to have some money coming in.  If we wanted to be able to work in the winter, we had to keep our jobs through the summer as well, so we decided that since there is lots of exploring that we are excited to do around this area, we will simply stay and work, save money and explore.  We are definitely getting a different experience of Ocean Falls than most cruisers that stop here.  

On May 15^th, Ken, the wharfinger, came down to see us to get our moorage payment.  We have now been here for five months.  Ken also brought some good news with him when he told us that we are now allowed to leave the dock and come back as long as we do not go to any communities.  That was great news for us as it gives us the option to go out and anchor for some of our time off, if we choose to.  It is nice to have the option and to not feel like we are stuck at dock.  

While we were at work we had lots of opportunity to watch the swallows.  There are two types here, barn swallows and tree swallows.  They are beautiful birds, excellent fliers, and very curious.  It is not uncommon that one, especially of the tree swallows, will come and land quite close to us and spend some time studying what we are doing.  They appear to have very weak legs as they always settle down and sit on their stomachs shortly after landing.  They then stand up right before taking off again.  These swallows are the smaller of the two types and they often come inside the bird netting that covers each wing of tanks.  It is amazing watching them flying so precisely and quickly within the netting, and then when they want to go back out they will fly right up to the net and hover momentarily in front of it before closing their wings and ducking through.  The barn swallows are somewhat larger and rarely come inside the bird netting. 

One day, from up on the balcony of the main building, we were able to watch four of the barn swallows flying below us and very close to the building.  Seeing them from above like that was very neat and we got a great look at their plumage, beautiful colours.  If I had my camera with me all of the time at work I would probably be able to get some very nice pictures of them.

Also while at work, one of our co-workers found a robin’s nest.  Luckily all of the people that we work with are animal lovers, and we all enjoy the nature that we are surrounded by.  Since spotting the nest we have all been quiet around that area and try to stay away as much as possible, but we have also been keeping an eye out for the parents. Unfortunately we have only spotted the parent once, so hopefully the nest does not get deserted.  Because of the location of the nest, we can get a very good look at it when we walk by, and there are three perfect blue eggs inside of a perfect nest.  

The nest itself is so neatly built that the inside is a perfect bowl of twigs and grasses while the outside has been insulated with moss.  I hope that when we are back at work next time that the eggs will have hatched and the parents will be busy feeding the chicks.  News of this nest has been passed on to the people on the next shift so that they know to stay away, and to be quiet and respectful in the area.  

Unfortunately, I have since done some research into robins’ nesting patterns and apparently only the female robin sits on the eggs because she is the only one with a brood pouch.  Also, she is supposed to sit on the eggs for 50 minutes out of every hour, so it is not a good sign that we have only seen her once.