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We approached Cape LaHave in heavy fog around noon. We were broad reaching along the coast jibing toward and away from the coast. In order to round Cape LaHave and make it into False LaHave, where we intended to look for a suitable anchorage, we wanted to make the most out of our last jibe toward Cape LaHave. We used our radar and depth information to approach the Cape. The seas were calm, although rollers were slowly and gently swaying Chaos on their way toward the bold but now hidden shore of Cape LaHave. As we came within about half a mile of Cape LaHave, the thunder of surf could be heard, and it seemed quite loud and a bit disturbing through the fog. I felt we were doing fine, though, as we had very good radar images of the coast and depth soundings were consistent with our estimated position from radar bearings. Nonetheless, I warned Ralph and my dad to be prepared to jibe on short notice. Dan was below working on some sandwiches for lunch, but I think he was up to his old tricks, checking the radar below and listening to our chatter above. Although we were well prepared, it was still alarming to see the huge surf on Cape LaHave come looming out of the fog. It seemed much closer than any of us would have liked, although we had plenty of room to execute our jibe. I issued the command to jibe, and we executed a crisp procedure. No one in the crew was interested in anything but a perfect jibe as we listened to the frightening booms of the ever closer surf. As the roaring surf receded, we all exchanged looks of relief to be clearly bearing away. I had read a couple of books about sailing in Nova Scotia, and both described similar experiences along the coast of Nova Scotia. The sun came out in the afternoon, and we were rewarded with the natural beauty of the LaHave Islands. We met local fishermen on Bush Island as they maintained their equipment on the pier. |