Safe Haven Ingonish

Full range of emotions on this sail day.

Exhilaration over the sail itself – the best day yet – riding out the tidal ebb of the Bras d’Or Lake as it entered the ocean we reached 10 knots in brilliant glorious sunshine.  Anxiety caused by vacillating between heading straight to NF on this glorious day or staying the course for Ingonish and waiting out the storm coming on Monday.   Anguish over hearing on our radio a Mayday Man Overboard from where we had not long left and wondering about our new friends that were following at our heels.  Sadness 2 hours later over hearing the outcome of that Mayday – a lobster fisherman dead.  Apprehension upon entering the narrow channel to Ingonish and finding hundreds of lobster trap lines and buoys that must be avoided – weaving through them like an obstacle course.  Relief at finding the most perfect shelter from the brewing storm – an obscure cove with a single mooring owned by a doctor who graciously offered us safe haven.  Appreciation for a hot and delicious meal after a 2 km walk to a nearby restaurant.  Disbelief upon returning to our boat exhausted after a long day and discovering we had left our keys and phone back at the restaurant!  Fatigue after trekking back, finding our belongings right where we had left them, then trekking back to our haven once again, cold, tired, but immensely happy to be “home”.

Cozy inside Come What May for the night, we contemplate the ebbs and flows of life.  The joys, the disappointments, the ups, the downs, the opportunities, the challenges, the wins, the losses.  We are grateful for all we have experienced and we miss our family and friends.  Yet we commit to living in the now.