The towers for the wind turbines of the wind/hydrogen project in Ramea have now all arrived. The third and last one was aboard the ferry Gallipoli on its Sept. 24 crossing.
The driver, Robert Gilbert, who lives in Vancouver, Washington, had driven the tower all the way from Seattle, Washington to Burgeo, yet he did not look at all tired.
He said laws now permit a driver in the United States to operate a commercial vehicle no more than 11 hours each day. In Canada, it is 13 hours, but even that leaves quite a bit of time for a leisurely supper, a bit of sightseeing in the towns where the driver stops and for a good sleep.
Gilbert also said high fuel is not an issue for him. He owns his rig but is under contract to a transportation company which treats him very well. He found the fee for his rig on the gulf ferry somewhat high — some $600 — but his company also takes care of that.
He does not see Newfoundland as a backward appendage to the North American continent. He said they had to stop somewhere in New Brunswick to have the clutch in his vehicle adjusted and was told there about how friendly and helpful the people of Newfoundland are.
He said also what he noticed in Newfoundland first of all is just how clean everything is on the island. He brought his wife along on the trip to Ramea. She said that she found it all very exciting and that she would not mind retiring to Ramea with her husband.
While still on the ferry, Gilbert was worried about narrow streets and sharp corners in Ramea. The turbine tower that he was transporting came in three sections, shoved together but still had an overall length of 38 feet. The flatbed trailer on which it rested was some 50 feet long. It needs a lot of extra room to turn a corner with such a trailer.
But when Gilbert and his wife were seen later, in a store in Ramea, where they purchased souvenir items, they said that they made it to the site at which the tower was to be unloaded without trouble and that they found Ramea very attractive.