Several years ago I was working in Grand Cayman. It was a great experience, meeting new people
and actually living in a different country.
My close circle of friends came from all over the world, the UK,
Trinidad, Kenya and Canada. Grand Cayman
has a lot of expatriates working there and most are from the British
Commonwealth.
On one Saturday afternoon my Canadian friend noticed the Newfoundland
Flag on a sail boat in the harbour. I
recall taking a look and said it reminded me of Scademia. Sure enough it was, but what was it doing in
the middle of the Caribbean when it belonged back at home thousands of miles
away. No one was on board at the time so
my question was left unanswered.
Later that evening I went to a local sports bar that showed
Hockey Night in Canada every Saturday night.
Many other Canadians came to the same bar on Saturday nights, it was a
great way to feel at home with a group of people who all liked Hockey. As luck would have it, that night I met Charlie
Anonsen the owner of Scademia. Charlie
and I became fast friends and overtime I learned some disturbing things, the
most important was the fact Scademia was
no longer in St. John’s harbour and might not ever work from there again. Scademia was for sale and most likely would
be sold outside of the province.
As I remember Scademia was the last schooner built in Newfoundland
and Charlie started the first boat tour business in newfoundland. Scademia became a recognized icon in the
community and is still today seen on countless advertisements, posters and
tourisms brochures. Tourists still today
come to St. John’s looking for her.
Now from what I can understand there was an issue between
Charlie and the St. John’s Port Authority that ended with Charlie not being
permitted to operate in St. John’s harbour.
