July 26

We wake to a beautiful sunny day with plans to hike out to Joe Batts Point outside of Joe Batts Arm. Yes, the name of the town is Joe Batts Arm. Just outside of the village is the Fogo Island Inn. We are hiking on the trail that goes to the point on the other side of the harbor from the Inn. It is an easy hike of 3 or four miles over open exposed rocks and bog. There are some ups and downs but it’s an easy hike. Along the eastern side of the bay the trails follows the coast in and out. Up ahead is a huge blank thing that more or less looks like a billboard only much larger. There’s nothing written on It so we are at a loss figuring out what it is. We come around to the other side and there are floor to ceiling windows overlooking the bay. This is one of the four artist in residence buildings created by Zeta Cobb. Artists from around the world come and stay at one of these unique buildings designed to fit into the surroundings in a natural yet unworldly way. We meet a group from the Fogo Island Inn on a geologist led hike for Inn guests. The leader filled us in about the Artist in Residence structures.

The trail ends at a artist created statue of and Auk. A large flightless birds that was hunted to extinction in the mid nineteenth century. This statue was created by an artist staying at the artist in residence sites back down the trail. Across the bay one can see the Fogo Island Inn.

After talking with several of the locals the vast majority of them are thrilled with the Fogo Island Inn and how a woman’s vision has helped the livelihood of the entire island. There are jobs and a solid economic foundation that was missing with the loss of the cod industry. People that grew up here left for jobs elsewhere in Canada are now returning and finding work here. They want to raise their families here.