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00:00Here we are in Grand Manan, New Brunswick!
00:05The jewel of the Bay of Fundy,
00:08not quite as close to the mainland of New Brunswick
00:11as it is to the mainland of Maine.
00:13But it's kind of remote here, too, out here in the Atlantic.
00:17This island is home to exactly one grocery store,
00:20one gas station, no chain restaurants, no banks.
00:25I heard there was a bank up until a few years ago.
00:28People hoped it would stay, but the bank had 0% interest.
00:34When you grow up in a small town in Newfoundland,
00:37you see the people have a sense of humour about hard times.
00:40I turned that into a career and hit the road.
00:45Now I'm on a mission to find it funny in the places you least expected.
00:49Canada's struggling small towns.
00:51Towns that are against the ropes, but hanging in there.
00:54Still laughing in the face of adversity.
00:56This is Grand Manan, New Brunswick.
00:59In my life...
01:16Grand Manan is famous for, well, let's face it, a whole number of things.
01:21But one of those things being, Grand Manan is home to the highest tides in the world.
01:30Because it is in the Bay of Fundy, as the moon pulls the water in here, it has nowhere else
01:36to go but up.
01:37The difference between low and high tide here is 40 vertical feet.
01:43That is crazy.
01:45This is the only place in the world where you can go out for a little kayak ride and every
01:49now and then you've got to pop your ears.
01:55Hunter, nice to meet you.
01:56Hunter, nice to meet you.
02:00Grand Manan is also famous because it was long known as the smoke herring capital of the world.
02:08To learn more about the rich history of fishing and smoking here, I did something you'd least expect.
02:14I asked a sturgeon, Ava sturgeon.
02:20The breeze is coming in off the water.
02:23And sometimes when it catches in those smoke sheds, you can smell that old smell of the smoked herring.
02:29Ava told me the smoked herring industry started here way back in the 1780s.
02:35And for generations she said there were smoking sheds everywhere.
02:39We had over 600 fishermen, over 300 of the smoke sheds all around Grand Manan.
02:47And massive amounts of smoked herring was shipped out of here to places all over the world.
02:53There was so many fish around here.
02:55As they come out of the fish wares, do you know what a fish ware is?
02:59I do, yeah.
03:00You do?
03:00Yeah.
03:02A fish ware is...
03:04You can still see the wares all over the island.
03:07You see the posts standing out in the water.
03:10And she said at the beginning of the herring season, a net would be wound around those poles.
03:16They hit that inner line and it directs them out into the fish trap.
03:20And they can't figure out how to get back out.
03:22They're not really trapped, but it's like they can't figure out how to get...
03:28I mean, these fish, they're about to leave their school to get smoked up in the shed.
03:32What can you expect?
03:34But Ava said then the boats would go out.
03:37They'd net up all this herring from the weirs.
03:39Then we'd get the call to come to work.
03:41And as a kid at 10 years old, that was fun.
03:44The smoking process would begin with stringers.
03:47She was a stringer.
03:48That was her job when she was a kid.
03:49That's an old smoked herring stringing table right there.
03:55Oh really?
03:56I haven't seen one in years.
03:58We would have stood here.
04:01You would slide the fish down the stick until it touched your thumb.
04:04And if they were touching, they wouldn't smoke right.
04:06Right.
04:06So they had to have that distance of the thumb.
04:09So you got all these herrings sort of hanging on the stick by the head.
04:11Your stick is full.
04:12You turn around and you put that stick on the horse behind you.
04:16And they'd all get put in rows on a cart.
04:19They called it a horse.
04:20I wondered if you twisted the stick, would all the herring sort of sway back?
04:24You could put a little soccer ball in there.
04:28It would look like a big foosball table almost.
04:31With like a thousand players.
04:35She said, Johnny, it's not really like a foosball table.
04:38I said, well, it's not really like a horse.
04:42The sticks would get carted off to the smoking shed.
04:47So the guys climb up to the very peak and put the first fish in.
04:51There'd be several little fires there to create smoke.
04:53And guys would be climbed up in these at various levels.
04:56Can you imagine being the person to go to the top of that and stand?
05:00And then to get the herring sticks to set them up right.
05:04And then go down a layer and do that all day long?
05:06No, I can't imagine.
05:08And of course, if you were on one of the lower levels,
05:11all day you're just getting herring drippings.
05:14You'd be covered in fish oil by the end of the day.
05:17It must have been next to impossible to wash it all off.
05:20Although, when you did, beautiful hair.
05:23Beautiful.
05:24They say Grand Manan didn't know a split end for a hundred years.
05:30I mean, all of these sheds had fires going in them and the smoke coming out through the rafters.
05:35It brings back so many memories.
05:37We don't smoke here anymore.
05:39And I wish we did, because it's a part of our heritage that we have lost.
05:45But I suppose like everywhere, you know, times change.
05:50And sometimes the younger generation isn't as keen to carry on the tradition.
05:55You know, nowadays on Grand Manan, kids don't smoke herring.
05:58They vape peach mango.
06:10There are some traditional ways of life that continue here on the island.
06:15They say there's never a dull moment in Grand Manan, but many a dulls moment.
06:20I talked with the owners of Green Sea Harvest, Wayne and Jordan Green.
06:29First of all, what is dulls?
06:33It's superfood.
06:34A superfood?
06:35That's the bottom line.
06:37Dulls is a nutrient-dense seaweed.
06:41It's the best quality in the world.
06:42Puts hair in your chest, too.
06:45The dulls of Dark Harbor is the dulce and gabbana of dulls and Grand Manana.
06:52There are several reasons as to why Dark Harbor is the perfect place for dulls.
06:58Look over there, them high cliffs.
07:00Yeah?
07:00It shades it from the sun, so it doesn't sunburn.
07:04Okay.
07:04The other factor is the tides.
07:06He said the deep tides provides nutrient-dense water for the dulls to grow in.
07:12It keeps the dulls covered under 30 feet of water for half the day and then exposed to pick and
07:17then covered back up.
07:18Wayne said his family is a dullsing family.
07:22It's a family tradition.
07:23His parents and his siblings would spend summers down in Dark Harbor picking and drying dulls.
07:30And I guess my mom said that I used to pick in a little plum basket.
07:34And when I had it full, I guess I was rich, she said.
07:37How old were you when you started picking?
07:40Conceived on the rocks here, probably.
07:42Not only did he grow up picking dulls, he said he was conceived right there on the seawall.
07:50It saved me having to ask.
07:54And I can kind of see why it's such a beautiful location.
07:57I mean, the scenic vista, the wild salt sea spray, it's all kind of erotic.
08:05So the tide's going out right now.
08:07Get ready to go dullsing.
08:10So then we went to pick some dulls.
08:12And the first thing involved, you've got to winch your boat up onto the top of the seawall.
08:17And then with muscle and gravity, you bring it down over the other side.
08:21This is when you don't need a gym membership.
08:25There she goes.
08:26It's going to be real slippery here.
08:28And from there, you go off to your favorite picking spot.
08:31But you've got to be fast on borrowed time, right?
08:34You can only harvest dulls ten days a month, closest to the full moon.
08:38And you'll only have a two-hour window twice a day before the tide comes back in and all the
08:43plants are under water.
08:44You can't see the seaweed for the sea.
08:47And this is dulls, right?
08:49No, that's kelp.
08:50That's kelp.
08:51And meanwhile, every five minutes, I'm, like, going up to Jordan with a piece of seaweed.
08:56Is that dulls or nori?
08:59That's nori.
09:00Hey, that's a nice handful of dulls right there.
09:02Okay, okay, I see, I see.
09:03So beautiful there.
09:04The sun was starting to go down over the sea, this huge weir right there in the harbor.
09:10But you can't get distracted.
09:11Time is money.
09:12Every basket you fill, that's like 80 bucks in your pocket.
09:16It's not long before you're into too much other stuff, though.
09:18And I said, how long does it take you to fill a basket?
09:22And Jordan said, well, you or me?
09:28Me?
09:29How long does it take me?
09:31You'll be here all night.
09:32The tide will cover it first.
09:33Although, joke's on him because you only got two hours, even if you don't fill up the basket.
09:37And I already knew, I didn't need to work my butt off making 80 bucks that night.
09:42That's what I'm doing tonight.
09:46Shake, shake, shake.
09:47That's it.
09:48Ah!
09:49Good job!
09:50That goes in the boat.
09:51That goes in the boat.
09:54Once you've harvested the dulce, you gotta spread it out over the rocks to dry it.
09:59And that's also where they have a shed where they sell the dulce.
10:02They said, people, locals will eat a bag of dulce, like a bag of potato chips.
10:10Now, when I tried it, I found it very salty.
10:13I'm just not a big seaweed guy.
10:14Listen, if I had to pick between dulce and nori, I'd pick dulce every time.
10:19And I'd rather pick it than eat it.
10:24Dulcing is fascinating.
10:26It's part scientific and botanical.
10:29And in another way, it ebbs and flows with the rhythm of the sea and the moon.
10:34And it's almost astrological.
10:36In fact, you'll be amazed.
10:38When I got back that night, I looked up my horoscope.
10:44You're not gonna believe this.
10:46This month, your sign is in a tidal moon.
10:51Beware risky business opportunities.
10:54However, it is an excellent time to get someone pregnant on the seawall.
11:09Oh, my goodness.
11:11What a good boy.
11:13Good luck with the painting.
11:20There's a little more spice on the island these days.
11:23Thanks to one of the newer residents.
11:25He's the hardest working man on dry land in Grand Manan.
11:29Owner of Vicky's Convenience, Raj Reddy Gujuri.
11:36Raj Reddy told me he moved to Grand Manan three years ago
11:40to take over Vicky's Convenience store.
11:42He said it's been a bit of an adjustment.
11:45We have to get into the store at 4, make the coffee,
11:48breakfast sandwiches, everything ready, and 4.30, the doors open.
11:51Apparently, Vicky's is the only place open early enough for fishermen to get their breakfast.
11:57And people here on Grand Manan are not shy.
12:01Yeah, sometimes, you know, I overslept and they come and knock my door.
12:06Really?
12:07Yes.
12:08He's got fishermen knocking on his door to get him out of bed.
12:14I don't mind because they need their food because they are going out in the water for long days.
12:20Yeah.
12:20That time Raj Reddy was just Raj, not quite ready.
12:25Here on the island, you know, the people are so friendly.
12:29Yeah.
12:29And they welcomed me with a warm heart and got a lot of friends.
12:33But also, Raj is passionate about Indian food and he's trying to introduce this more and more to the locals.
12:39The people who love the spices, they love it.
12:41The people who don't, they don't at all.
12:43Right.
12:44And he told me he's been making Indian food sub sandwiches.
12:49Indian chicken sub.
12:50Oh, amazing.
12:51Yeah.
12:51Here we go.
12:51I prefer subs because it's very easy for the fishermen.
12:55Right.
12:56If I give a rice bowl and the plate and something, it's too much messy and they don't have so
12:59much time on the board.
13:00Now, you might think an Indian sub boarding a Canadian fishing vessel, that could be a big incident.
13:07That's something the Coast Guard has to respond to.
13:10But in this case, it's no big deal.
13:13The Coast Guard is like, well, what kind of boat should we send after an Indian sub?
13:18Oh, sub sandwich?
13:20Oh, frigate.
13:25But it's not just food either.
13:27Raj is helping bring some of the cultural traditions of home to this island.
13:31This spring, his friend Risha said to him, we should celebrate Holy Festival here on Grand Manan this year.
13:39That's holy with an I, not a Y, short for Holika.
13:43They did it at one of the local churches.
13:45Oh, Holy Festival, it is called the Festival of Colors.
13:48Okay.
13:49Only rule is, pick the color, throw it somebody.
13:53I was amazed that the locals would be so keen for a foreign cultural tradition, they're all dying to find
13:58out about it.
14:02We went over to a field nearby where I met some of his friends and Risha, who told me what
14:09the throwing of the colors was all about.
14:11These colors symbolizes love and even your enemies can be your friends and you let go and have fun.
14:20Okay.
14:21Yeah.
14:22Close your mouth.
14:24Now, why do you hurl it at each other?
14:31I don't entirely, a lot of it went over my head, a lot of it went in my hair.
14:43I got a lot of it in my mouth, I definitely ate a lot of colored powder that day.
14:48You know what, it tasted fine, the powder was very fine.
14:52In fact, it's so fine that some people would throw it through the air and it would make this cool
14:56kind of colored cloud effect.
14:58And other people, it seemed like more out of vengeance.
15:03Please close your mouth.
15:12And the whole thing reminded me, not to gosh, but what a cool country we live in, that I could
15:17come to a remote island off the coast of New Brunswick and learn about smoked herring and seaweed superfood and
15:25Hindu culture all in the same place.
15:27Holy!
15:29And if I had to rank the things that I ate learning all this, it would probably be Indian sob,
15:36dulse, or no, Indian sob, colored powder, dulse.
15:54If you're looking across this great country for a Canada Day tradition that is on one side wholesome and warm,
16:01but at the same time chilling and greasy,
16:06I found just the thing in Grand Manan.
16:09I went down to Seal Cove, I had a chat with Chris and Tiffany Ingalls.
16:16The highlight of every Canada Day celebration on Grand Manan is the annual greasy pole ride.
16:23Tiffany explained how it works to me.
16:26The goal is to ride the barrel to the end of that pole and grab the flag.
16:31And if you grab the flag, you get a $20 bill.
16:35Now, after driving around Grand Manan, I said to Tiffany, does it have to be that Canadian flag?
16:42Because if it was any Canadian flag, I got a retirement plan here on Grand Manan.
16:46Lots of Canadian flags around.
16:53And this competition, it's hard. Tiffany said maybe five people every summer will actually manage to grab the flag out
17:00of over a hundred people trying.
17:02And Chris is the reigning champion.
17:06Make it count.
17:10I've got it 17 times.
17:13That's pretty impressive.
17:14Now, knowing I was going to give it a try, my main concern, when I first got down to Seal
17:20Cove, I saw them setting up the pole.
17:22But before I really understood the tides in this area, it looks like a 15-foot drop under the rocks.
17:30That's crazy.
17:32But then the tide came in, and of course, it filled up Seal Cove Crick, it's called.
17:38Don't let the word crick fool you, it is the cold North Atlantic.
17:43And it all kicked off, and first the kids went out.
17:52Some of the younger kids under 12, they'll get a push from the adults.
17:57And actually, a few of them got it this year.
18:08But then it was time for the adults to go.
18:14And eventually, I went up to take my turn.
18:16I went up to the barrel.
18:18Everybody cheered.
18:22Took a couple deep breaths.
18:24I took my shirt off.
18:25Everybody cheered again.
18:29This might be a war, but it feels like a lot of peer pressure.
18:36But then I was like, I felt the barrel, and it's super slippery.
18:41Like, just like, and I was like, why does the pole need to be greased?
18:44Is this not hard enough?
18:45And I got in position, and I launched myself out.
18:56And I'm not about to upstage these kids.
18:58Let it be about the kids.
19:00Let it be about the kids.
19:02I just sorta, I took a dive.
19:05I took a dive.
19:07When I hit that water, it's so cold,
19:11my heart rate jumped higher than my gonads.
19:16Which is saying something.
19:18They didn't drop until the next day.
19:22Anyway, they're doing much better now.
19:24Thanks, I know you were wondering.
19:25Thanks for your concern.
19:26They're doing just grand manads.
19:41There's a strategy, I'm told, when it comes to the greasy pole.
19:45When you take the barrel for a long and slippery ride.
19:49And whether you grab the flag or no, you land in water mighty cold.
19:54But still better than if you tried it at low tide.
19:58The smoking sheds still stand along the edges of the land.
20:03And the weirs still stand in water, as you know.
20:06As the sun begins to rise, you can hear the fishermen cry.
20:10Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey.
20:12Raj, let's go.
20:18A beauty here hits harder than the wind does on Dark Harbor.
20:23Of Grand Manan, here's one thing I believe.
20:26It pulls your heart strings tight.
20:27And it pulls with all the might.
20:30Of the full moon pulling tides upon the sea.
20:33Thanks for coming out, everybody.
20:34Have a great.
20:35Thanks so much.
20:37We had a blast.
20:38Thank you again.
20:41Yeah, he was a good picker.
20:43Quick and down low.
20:44He's hired, everybody.
20:46Hired.
20:46I don't know how long my back would last, dude.
20:49But I was telling him, Johnny, please shut your mouth.
20:53That's the only time I can say that.
20:55Happy Holies!
20:57He understood what was the concept of Holies.
21:00So I really appreciated that.
21:02He's a seagull going over, guys.
21:04I guess we need to put him back in the water, eh?
21:07Yeah.
21:08Whoa!
21:12What would you like, my lover?
21:20When's he coming back?
21:23Because we'd love to have him back.
21:25Yeah, man.
21:25I mean, we can have everything of the water to the surface.
21:25But just so I felt like, you know,
21:25We wonder what the 싱 often seems like things,
21:26You mean, we Idiot?
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