Tuesday 16 September 2025--Lazy morning...we stayed up a little too late last night, and maybe had a beer too many. Get out a bit late and walk down into the village, then out through the old smoke houses to the beach. Grand Manan was purportedly at one time the largest supplier of smoked herring in the world. A century ago, sheds like this dotted the whole eastern coast of the island. This is the best remaining concentration of them, now quietly decaying, the last of them having closed up just thirty years ago. It's a shame...it would make a nice little artist colony, or something. Grand Manan is too remote, I guess.

Smoked herring and dulse, too...I hope the fame didn't go to their heads.

Seal Cove's beach is a lovely strand. We don't see any seals...we do see lots of crabs and crab parts, victims, I assume, of local gulls. I don't know why so many end up on the beach; I suppose it's because of the extreme tides. I have an eye out for the distinctive trapezoidal shells of European green crabs, an invasive species that appears to be in the process of conquering the world. All I see here are the native rock crabs. There are two wooden stairways that lead up to cottages atop the bluff. I looked at one of these while planning. It would be nice to be right over the beach, I guess, but I'm happy with the choice we made.

Back through the smoke sheds, past the house, and up the street we walk to High Seas Convenience for fish and chips. It seems to be standard for convenience stores here to have a grill and a fryer. As well as a counter, High Seas has a nice patio looking over the village and the bay.

We get in the car and make the short drive through the Grand Manan Bird Sanctuary to the beach at Long Pond Bay. It feels more remote than Seal Cove, but the beach itself isn't as nice. Stop at the Grand Manan Brewing Company on the way back for a pint before retiring for the evening.