"Forteau Bay is on the Straits of Labrador" Forteau Bay by crummey

Forteau Bay is a paradise with beautiful golden beaches. There are few places more beautiful. However, it is foggy and windswept and can be quite cold, even on sunny days.

The Wreck of the Raleigh August 1922.

Forteau Bay is situated on the Labrador Coast alongside the Strait of Bell Isle.

Forteau Bay has been the home to Maritime Archaic Indians and then Paleo-Eskimo. In historic times, Inuit frequented the region and were recorded to have both traded with and worked for the Basque Whalers.

Forteau was also the site of a 18th century French fishing colony owned and administered by a French-Canadian named Sieur de Courtemanche.

Forteau Bay has been the refuge to Basque, French and Jersey fishermen although it is not sheltered as nearby ports, like Red Bay and Lourdes-Blanc-Sablon.

The fishermen frequenting Forteau Bay was harried by Yankee and French privateers during the American Revolution and the Napoleanic Wars. More recently, H.M.S. Raleigh was shipwrecked on nearby L'anse Amour. The shipwreck was a boon for the locals, who salvaged furniture, food, lead pipes, copper wire, brass fittings and sundry acoutraments from the stricken vessel.

The Wreck of the Raleigh was a total writeoff. The shipwreck was a scandal for the British Empire because it was the Flagship of the North Atlantic & West Indies Fleet.

Jason Crummey with wreckage of Raleigh

HMS Raleigh was a Hawkins-class cruiser. The warship got lost in fog and crashed into Pointe Amour in 1922.

The 12000 ton warship was brand-new when Captain Sir Arthur Bromley shipwrecked it in Forteau Bay. Eleven sailors of its eight hundred man crew drowned in the accident.

HMS Raleigh was a total write-off. The Admiralty declare the ship a total writeoff, leaving it to be looted by Newfoundland fishermen and mariners.

• Pros:All of the amenities are close by.
• Cons:It is right on the Labrador Straits, better bring a heavy jacket. Even in the summer.
• In a nutshell:Lotsa Fun, hey boy