Anchored in Mahone Bay

Story by TINA HENNIGAR
Photo by Béatrice Schuler-Mojon
Paul and Harmony Krouse dropped the anchor of their 42-foot sailboat in the Mahone Bay harbour and decided to stay. Their adventure began in 2013 when the two, together with their teenage son, were yearning for a simpler life. They bought a boat as part of their 10-year plan to downsize, live on it and save money. They were inspired by a couple who turned an old fishing trawler into their home and then sailed it around the world. There was only one problem: they’d never sailed before. In fact, they knew nothing about boating. “We knew we didn’t get seasick,” Paul said of their plan. That was enough for them.
The family moored their new home in the harbour in Hamilton, Ontario for 5-years. Their teenage son, Ethan, was fine with the change. His only concern was the speed and amount of internet. “He was a gamer so that was important to him,” they shared. ”We definitely got a lot closer, ” they said of their family and their time living on the boat.
Then in 2018, Paul and Harmony quit their jobs working as a team in the hospitality industry, untied their boat and headed out to Newfoundland, where they had bought a house, 10 years earlier, in Harbour Breton sight-unseen. Paul had never been further east than Montreal. “We love Newfoundland! We love the people, we love everything about it,” Harmony said. She even belonged to a women's dart league.
It was later that same year, when friends, who own the Kitch’inn in Mahone Bay suggested they sail in and say hello. ”It was the week after Scarecrow Festival and we went for lunch at Oh My Cod and someone said, ’you should buy this
place,’” Paul laughed. Fortunately, it was so windy that they were unable to leave, giving them a few more days to stay, explore and seriously think about settling in Mahone Bay. Not afraid of hard work or even a little risk, they used their savings to buy the restaurant and moved again.
The first thing they did was join the Mahone Bay Tourism & Chamber of Commerce. Then they found a trivia team to call their own at the Mug and Anchor Pub. ”We’re the Dirty Oars, ” Harmony laughed.
“We loved it as soon as we sailed in. We’d been to Nova Scotia before, but only really saw the highway, and really didn’t think too much about it, ” Paul said. ”We had never seen any of...any of this,” Harmony said of Mahone Bay.
Paul and Harmony are enjoying their new life in Mahone Bay. It was the community that they were drawn to, and they've since become part of it. ”We love waking up here, ” Harmony said. ”Every day we wake up to different sky.”
Visit: oh-my-cod.ca