Pointe au Baril Pre War generation. The maids were always 'a problem'. My mom was a home economist and during World War I had coped with mass cooking for convalescents, so to cope with 20 to 30 relatives and two incompatible maids who came to Pointe au Baril via train, steamer and ice (supply) boat was her 'summer holiday.' She served breakfast, lunch and dinner for this extended family with an amazing gourmet touch. She was an expert at filleting fish and to this day I am told that Lea Pratt's black bass is a delight and I try to follow her recipe. She was also famous for a blueberry pudding as all the women in the 20s and 30s went picking. Clambering over rocks and rattlesnakes, they always came home with enough for many pies or puds. Granny Pratt was still picking and gathering firewood into her 95th year. Some of the family enjoyed a weekly 'cruise' to Ojibway or the Pointe in a long inboard launch - the Wascana - complete with wicker chairs. There was also a Dispro. a heavy wooden sailboat, two rowboats and an outboard that my dad used for flying trips to the Station. He did his business by cable. so was free to spend the two months at the cottage. For my ninth birthday I was given a 14 foot outboard with 1 1/2 h.p. motor and my 'chore' each day was to make the three mile trip to Skerryvore Hotel to pick up the mail for our bay - Kirbys', two Dowler families'. and Pratts'. These families were close friends and held their own regatta with probably 40 to 50 people.