Anchors aweigh...

Departure day arrived. However, it was not during daytime we slipped away.   Our daughter, Susie, and hers, Zaxy, arrived during the day, along with our good friends, Bruce and Belinda, for lunch and final goodbyes.  Our son, Ben, came to see if his dad needed help with any last minute adjustments and to see us off.   Emotions ran high.  It was difficult for all of us.  As the warmth of the  beautiful autumn day began to wane, so did our loved ones. With in minutes they were gone.

It seemed surreal, lonely. We looked at each other standing on either ends of our beloved boat. Was this it?....  Then, in just enough time to wisp us from the fog of our encompassing doubt,  Linda and David, liveaboard friends from the marina, strolled along the dock to wish us “Fair Winds” and  throw out lines to us as we pushed away from the dock.  Yes, it was real again.  It was destined.

Then, at six o’clock in the evening, October 7^th, one week before Thanksgiving Day, almost five years to the day from her arrival at the same dock, we slid Bridlewilde out of the serene little harbour in the mouth of the Gold River, motored her into a dead calm Mahone Bay, for a destination charted to Round Island anchorage. We hooked to a mooring ball there later that evening, arriving in the darkened, quiet cove of the island with a misty moon highlighting our first evening out.  Our adventure had begun. We were en route and all was well with the our world.

Dead calm departure - notice the wake ripples as we depart

The following morning as soon as the mooring line dropped into the water, the boat pointed out, toward out next port of call at Liverpool.   We had a wonderful day of travel and arrived at the Brooklyn Marina just at dusk. We were excited, we were exhausted, and we were happy.  As we guided the boat into the floating dock we were pleased to see the masts of two other sailing vessels tied there.  We had sailed the Atlantic coastal waters before at this time of the year, today included, and knew that there were very few sailboats sailing.  We were well aware that most people were pulling their boats from the water this late in the season rather than raising their sheets.  We were even more excited when we noted that the sterns of these two vessels identified that they each hailed from Ontario.  It meant that they may be travelling too.

The next morning, after consulting the weather resources we use to help determine how and when we travel on the ocean, we decided to remain at the marina for a couple of days.  Susie was spending time with her family at their lakeside cabin for Thanksgiving.  She contacted us, asking that we come for dinner and came to pick us up. However, before she arrived the people from the two other vessels came by, introduced themselves, explained, like us, that they were travelling, and had made it this far from Hamilton, Ontario.  One couple, Jimmy and Jacquie, had family locally that they were visiting.  The other couple, Joe and Rose, were travelling together with Jimmy and Jacquie, due to complications they were experiencing on their vessel.  Their plan was to remain in Brooklyn for the weekend and then travel to Digby, NS where Jimmy would visit with his mom for a couple of weeks and Joe would have the necessary work required on his boat done.  Both couples were retired, living aboard their boats, also like us eventually, heading for warmer climates further south. 

Zaxy's thankful tree and turkey drawing (from her hand print) presented at Thanksgiving dinner. Each of us were asked to identify something we were thankful for.

Over the next few days at the marina, we developed a friendship with these two couples, shared sea stories, hearty belly laughs and each of us explicating our plans for our destinations unknown.  Naturally, we shared our contact information and promised to keep in touch as we traveled along our respective routes.  On Oct 12, with the weather in our favour, all three sailing vessels departed the small village harbour, early, on  a quiet, cool, misty morning breeze; Bridlewilde bound for Lockeport and the two other sailboats pointed out for Yarmouth.