Moby and the Dick

Sorry, no pics today, the blogger thingy is not working so well. Ok, so you have to read my stories for a bit; I'll try to keep it lively. I've actually got a pretty good one...

So things have mellowed out a bit since the wilderness first responder course. I really had no idea of the extensiveness of this course being able to administer a variety of drugs (some of which I haven't had opportunity to try). We were also taught how to clear a potential spinal injury for obvious reasons that carrying a 180lb man on a makeshift spineboard for 3 days in the bush may not be the best option. All in all, a wilderness setting makes your questions and answers very complicated.

I laugh to think of this 'wilderness setting' as they describe it as "greater than 2 hours from definitive care". Right... I live in a wilderness setting. Outside of spraining my ankle, I'm guaranteed a helicopter ride if anything goes wrong in my head, moreso than it has already. Childbirth on the island is a non-existence. Operations are a non-existence, we don't even have doctors around all the time. As sure as Dolly Parton sleeps on her back, we're 2 hours from definitive health care.

The fundraiser for the Haida Language center has also given me a bit of a reputation for the 'funny guy' in town as well. As part of the fundraiser I was the host of the 'Haida Dating Game' and it was a hoot. We set up a surfer from north beach with a bunch of horny nanees (nanees are grandmas) and I worked it! Funny times for all and many compliments in the paper this week.

So, the good story....
Well, I went to Rennel sound on Sunday night in search of some surf and those california surfer dudes who were apparently in town. Didn't find them or surf, so settled down to a smokey fire, some sweet smoke and a few smokies, listened to the radio in the truck for a bit and then off to bed. Thought I'd fire up the engine to charge up the battery before nighty night and clickkkkkkkk.... shit I ran out the battery and I'm at least 50 miles from anyone. And I mean ANYONE... so I have to think about a 18 hour trek back to town. So, I goes to sleep and wake up ready for the hike in the morning. As soon as I start, the surfer dudes show up. They were completely useless and the biggest dicks I've ever seen. And I don't mean that in the good sense of the words big dick. Apparently they're here to exploit the spot, get the pics and story and sell it to the highest bidder. Oh well, we had a good run in paradise.

So after they did nothing, they said they'd check back after their surf, so I started my pilgramage again. Luckily some local boys were coming down to fix a broken bridge and gave me a boost. I gave them beer and the world was right again.!! Yay Rednecks!

So what about the moby....
After the episode at Rennel (absolutely amazing place with mountains, ocean, red turban snails everywhere) I needed a surf. It was up back home so I went out with some others and hooted it up for a bit, everyone catching good rides. As I was paddling over to the main peak I saw a huge black fin not 50 feet from the other crew. I heard my buddy Chris yell "SHARK" and we were paddling like a mofo to get out of the water. We all made it in and watched this fin circle around and around and then a big PFFFFF of a blowhole came out. We thought... porpise, naw, orca... maybe... but the fin was a little over a foot and didnt' seem to look like an orca. We guessed it must be a shark feeding on a whale. We figured something was going to die right in front of us.
So, we continue to watch in knee deep water....

Chris start's getting curious, grabs his camera and paddles out (crazy fuck). And as he gets out into about 10 feet of water the fin comes up right beside him and it's a humpback whale swimming on it's side. I followed him out and we were litterally sitting beside the whale on our boards, watching it feed right below us through the water. This went on for a good half hour until she was on her way up the beach. By far the most amazing moment of time when wilderness and my reality shared the same medium. I'll never forget that story.
So, that's the good one for the week. Hope you all have an amazing experience like that soon. Have a good weekend!