Our Sable Island Home is a personal story that does not shy away from the perils of life in an isolated locale, interwoven with maritime history that centres around the iconic island. The story will take you on a journey more than sixty years back into the past, to a time when Sable Island was referred to as “the Graveyard of the Atlantic.” 

Any reference to the island’s name conjured up words such as godforsaken, haunted, infamous, and treacherous. It was a time when no one even imagined that Sable Island would one day become a Canadian National Park.

Sable Island was still a lifesaving establishment in 1951 when Ernest O’Hara took his wife and four children, including a three-month-old baby, on the perilous passage to Sable Island to make a home upon its sands. The story opens with the family setting sail on HMCS Edward Cornwallis for Sable Island where Ernest had accepted the post as Officer in Charge of the Sable Island Wireless Station.

The young couple had to nearly abandon twentieth-century civilization when they went to live on Sable Island, but they were fulfilling a dream. Sable was to be their last isolated home. They planned to return to the mainland when they saved enough money to buy a house, and establish roots – a forever home for their family.

As confident and well prepared as the couple was to live on an isolated sandbar in the Atlantic, they discovered they couldn’t prepare themselves for every misfortune. The book tells stories that bring to life the hardships, worries, desperation, fears and uncertainties that come with such isolation.

The two older girls, filled with unbridled joy and wonder, will take you along to run free on the dunes of Sable, through the marram grass, and on the beaches – always at the mercy of sand, sea, Atlantic gales and their own bad decisions. Adventures and escapades abound, including encounters with the wild ponies of Sable and the occasional discovery of abandoned ships unearthed by the wind on the long strands of beach.

The history of the island is woven throughout the book, providing a context for the story and enabling a deeper understanding of Sable Island.

Sharon O’Hara is an educator, artist and writer. This book was written in collaboration with her sister Mary O’Hara, with whom she has worked in television, print, and film. 

Sharon O'Hara's profile page

Mary O'Hara's profile page