Rovers MagazineMaggie Bucci, my girlfriend, and I waited in the ferry line in North Sydney, Nova Scotia, in our ‘98 Defender 110 pickup. This will become our third ferry trip of a 7-ferry total from our home on Martha’s Vineyard across Nova Scotia to the island province of Newfoundland (pronounced newf’nLAND by the locals). While sitting in the ferry line I pulled up my ticket info; what came up on my email search was a May 2019 message from our dear friend, Dave Sweetapple.
Tragically, Dave passed away suddenly last August, only a couple of weeks before his carefully planned Newfoundland Expedition [see Fall 2024 issue], leaving us all stunned and heartbroken. Collectively, and with the blessing of Dave’s wife, Robin, we agreed to make it happen. We all knew Dave would be incredibly disappointed if we canceled the Expedition (I can hear him berating me now). The participants would be: Maggie and me (Edgartown, MA, ’98 Defender 110 300 Tdi pickup), Mike Kenney (Taunton, MA and Newfane, VT, Defender 130 Hi-Cap quad cab), Matt Dawe and Jenn Kane (Brooklyn, NY, ’95 Range Rover Classic), John Dakowicz (Washington, NH, Defender 110 pickup) and Bryan Wittler (Dummerston, VT, Defender 90). My twin brother Chris and our mutual friend, Charlie Giordano, tagged along on their BMW GS motorcycles.
Ah, but the best laid plans, etc.; after all, these are old Land Rovers. Matt Dawe chose discretion over valor and left his newly acquired Range Rover Classic at home. A native Newfoundlander, Matt knew he would have additional responsibilities for the trek, so he and Jenn opted to drive with Mike Kenney in his 130. Whoops, time for Plan B. On his way to Bar Harbor, ME, to catch the ferry to Nova Scotia, Mike’s transmission failed completely. Our group came to the rescue and we towed Mike’s 130 to the house and shop of Trevor White in Surry, ME. We all camped on Trevor’s lawn overnight while Mike rented a car, made a 280-mile, 5-hour drive to his house, and jumped into his pickup truck to join us for the rest of the trek. We were grateful to still have Mike on the trip and Matt and Jenn still had a ride.
Mike and I had both sourced our Defender 130’s through Dave’s friend, Ezra White, in Rotterdam. My Defender started life as a proud member of the Dutch Marine Corps (Korps Mariners), coincidentally serving and protecting Dave Sweetapple’s civilian Defender 130. The faded badge still sits on the upper rear of the truck bed. She’s a war wagon with the battle scars to prove it. After its military service, it entered civilian life; from what I can tell, that owner kept her well covered in mud for the extent of his ownership. I had brought my Defender to John Dakowicz’s Hillside Garage, in Washington, NH, to prepare for the trip. I had a long laundry list of things to repair, and John found several more things that needed immediate attention. Mike’s Defender ran wonderfully on the trip through Maine – until it didn’t – he said that the transmission failure occurred abruptly and without any noises or shudders.
We had scheduled to spend a handful of days in St John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador and Dave’s hometown. Dave’s parents, Chesney and Florence, looked forward very much to meeting and greeting Dave’s ragamuffin Land Rover friends. It was only fitting that the visit to St John’s would include several meetings with Dave’s parents, a memorial with friends and family at a local hangout called Pearcey’s Twine Store, just down the street from Dave’s childhood home (it has neither twine, nor is it a store.) with our gracious host, local legend Randy Pearcey. The neighborhood, called The Battery, is a quaint harbor-side village with tiny hilly streets reminiscent of a small European seaside village. It also reminded me very much of my grandmother’s house, my birthplace, in Christiansted St. Croix USVI.
We spent our first week with Dave’s family and local friends, as well as taking day trips to various locations. We tried to find surf down South in Biscay Bay. On the way we stopped in Fermeuse at the home of Dave’s old friend Calvin Brophy. He has a handful of “waiting for
restoration” Series Land Rovers on his property and a Defender 90 TD5 that he uses as his daily driver.
We drove up to Pouch Cove, out to Cape Spear (the easternmost point of the North America), and then headed out to the ferry to Bell Island. To our surprise, we found a handful of Land Rover aficionados ready to join us as our guides. Bell Island is a small 13 square mile island in Conception Bay, west of St John’s. The off-roading and exploring on Bell Island were inspiring; the island deserves another longer visit next time.
Bell Island had served as a large-scale iron ore mining hub from the late 1800s–1960s. Land Rovers were their vehicle of choice for the mining operations; at one time the mine company fleets accounted for the greatest concentration of Land Rovers in the Americas.
After leaving St Johns’ our plan was to head out across the province, ending up at our return ferry in Port aux Basques. At the Newfoundland Distillery in Clarkes Beach, we received a royal reception. In Port Rexton, one of the more picturesque villages I’ve ever visited, we treated ourselves to a night of luxury and spectacular food and drink at the Fishers’ Loft. We made the obligatory stops at the gift shops and brewery in the awkwardly named town of Dildo. We camped in the spectacular wilderness of Gros Morne National Park, where we took a boat tour of an ancient fjord.
Dave’s creation of the Newfoundland Expedition forms just one of his many contributions to the Land Rover community. We’re already planning a follow-up trip to include Labrador. There wasn’t a moment on the trip that I didn’t feel Dave’s presence and hear his running commentary in my head. He was and is dearly missed. We spoke of him often, and I imagine that we will do so often in the future. To Dave, everyone was a Vermont Rovers member, ‘You want to be in the club?” he’d say. “Ok, you’re in the club.” We love and miss you, Dave.
[For more information contact editor@roversnorth.com ]