River Spirit Dragon Boat Team

Back in the earliest days of River Spirit we had a member who paddled enthusiastically, and also became a caller. Her name was Dawn, and she really loved being on the water. Unfortunately, her cancer returned, and even though during her treatment she wanted to give up several times, she met the challenge head on, as she did everything. She persisted in participating, and acted as caller when she felt up to it. One day, when she was on the drum, we were heading to the range markers. Not knowing the riverbed very well in those days, we cut between them, and hit the sandbar. The boat lurched, and both Dawn and the drum rocked back and forth until she fell into the water. She was really mad about seeing her hat float away. Sally, who was tilling at the time, jumped in to rescue it, and help Dawn back on the boat, losing her own hat. We straightened up the drum, and Dawn, soaking wet, continued on drumming.

She eventually succumbed to the disease, and we lost a great friend. When we gathered in Baike’s Slough for our traditional carnation ceremony in her honour, we noticed a large and glorious eagle sitting in the tallest tree at the end of the slough, and someone said, “Look, there’s Dawn, watching over us.” We have the honour of the eagle’s presence often when we practise there, even now.

Our team practises in the estuary of the Campbell River. We are constantly on the look out for rapidly falling tides, sudden wind squalls, thunder storms, float planes, fish boats, pleasure craft and debris.. As tiller I am particularly watchful for things floating in the water. One day  in 2007 we were out for an evening practice. It was a glorious night and we were in Baikie Slough practicing race sprints. Nick, our coach, had marked off 200 metres along the shore and we were doing a sprint towards the mouth of the slough. As we got the boat up on plane and really moving fast, I noticed something in the water on the starboard side of the bow. At first I thought it was a log, but it was moving too fast. Fearing we would collide with it I called out, “Hold the boat!”  Nick, sitting in the drummer's seat facing backwards, stared at me in disbelief. The team responded post haste and the boat came to a rapid halt. A mid-sized black bear swam past our bow not 10 metres from our coach’s back. “What the heck?” he shouted. “Bear in the water we hooted! Look behind you.” When he finally looked around he saw the bear’s butt heading up a make-shift ladder someone had left on the shore. We never saw the bear again, but from then on the “Bear Stairs” are the end marker for the race sprints.