Saturday, February 27th, 1892, dawned unreasonably warm and clear. Rising early to take advantage of the fine weather, two hundred men and boys from many Trinity Bay communities left in their small punts to hunt seals on the icefield that had drifted in close to land overnight. Their hopes for a successful hunt were dashed, however, when the weather took an unexpected and severe turn for the worse. By noon a ferocious winter storm and extremely high sea had arisen, trapping many of the landsmen on the ice and forcing others to make their way to shore by rowing into the teeth of a vicious northern gale.
The events that would unfold that day are remembered as the Trinity Bay disaster, marking one of the darkest episodes in the history of the area. Despite the many unbelievably harrowing escapes and daring rescues that occurred, by day’s end many of the fathers, sons, grandfathers and uncles that left for the ice that morning were still missing and unaccounted for. The enormity of the storm’s devastation would only manifest itself as the news of the disaster spread around the bay and to the rest of Newfoundland in the hours and days that followed.
Eldon Drodge began his career as a writer following a thirty-four year career in the computer industry. Born in Little Heart’s Ease, Trinity Bay, he moved to St. John’s at a very early age where he was raised and educated. He had never forgotten his outport roots, and had always maintained a great love for the stories of “olden times."
