june/july 2016cruisingworld.com50
pain increased dramatically. While I would
prefer not to write about a health issue,
there are some valuable lessons that we
learned through this unscheduled ordeal.
When the pain became unbearable,
Bill called a doctor in the States for advice
and soon found a clinic east of Halifax, at
Sheet Harbour. I took a heavy dose of ibu-
profen and Tylenol and tried to make the
best of it. It was a long four-hour sail to a
wharf where Canadian medics were wait-
ing to whisk me off to the five-room clinic.
As it turned out, I had a kidney stone (the
first in my life). It passed that night, and
we were on our way the next morning.
The lessons I learned that day are that you
should always be sure you can reach a doc-
tor, even at sea, and that it is better to head
for shore when you have a serious health
problem rather than try to tough it out. I
was sorry for causing an 18-hour delay, but
we were all happy to be back at sea, even if
the wind was now blowing over 25 knots —
and still on the nose.
The 132-mile voyage from Sheet
Harbour was businesslike and routine.
There was a purpose to our mission, and
we all looked forward to arriving at Sable.
As the watches passed, we rotated steering,
talked, and even welcomed an osprey
aboard for a few hours. The poor bird
looked extremely tired. He made many
attempts to land on the top of the mast,
and unfortunately took out the masthead
fly in the process. Eventually he had his
rest in the cockpit, next to the helmsman.
Then, when the osprey revived, he hopped
over the side. He struggled to take off, but
finally got airborne with great effort and
was on his way.
It was quite a relief to finally sail
under Sable’s lee shore. We arrived after
dark and waited for sunrise to make our
landing. A clear sky greeted us the next
morning as we loaded up one of our two
inflatable dinghies and headed for the
island. Parks Canada station manager
Aaron Carpenter was on the beach
waiting for us. The waves were small,
and it was an easy landing. Sable has no
natural harbor, so we were at the mercy of
the weather and surf. Had the surf been
up, we would not have been able to land.Top to bottom: Horses have roamed
Sable Island for 250 years; once
pressed into service by lifesaving
crews, they now run free. Cinema-
tographer Mike Audick gets ready to
film Gary Jobson (center) and Dan
Finamore alongside the fallen flagstaff
of the old Humane Establishment.
Tazzarin lies at anchor off Sable’s
north shore. Opposite: Main Station
is manned year-round by a staff of five
meteorologists and park employees.