Making a Connection

This is Pat.

Waiting for their arrival in Toquaht

When you are a large canoe family, like the Sunshine Coast, sometimes there are people you know, you kinda know, and who you don't know. 

This is Pat.  Pat paddles with the Dolphin Spirit and volunteered to work as ground crew to Toquaht, just as I did.  Pat was someone I was familiar with, but did not really know all that well.  Throughout that day, we had worked separately yet together on setting up camp and waiting for their arrival.  The fleet was delayed 4-hours.  It was the day when the water conditions changed for the worst and ground crew had limited information.

After we freshened up and set up camp, we waited and waited.  The beach was nice, along with the live entertainment and the HUGE feast.  However, as each hour that passed, the ground crew got more concerned.  All that we knew was that the canoes were being towed.  In anticipation of their arrival, the Sunshine Coast ground crew decided to go above and beyond the call of duty.  We put sleeping bags in tents and blew up air mattresses.

It was almost 9 pm and we could see the canoes in the distance.  Pat and I were on the beach standing in separate places waiting for the canoes to come in.  Pat says to me, "Do you feel the same way as I do?"  I started to cry.  So did she.  Instantly, we connected.  There were no words minced between us but we both understood.  The fleet was coming home.  We were overwhelmed with joy.  Watching protocol was a beautiful experience.

Since then, Pat and I have had a special connection... an understanding.  We truly understood what it meant to be part of the Sunshine Coast Canoe family and that we are all Pulling Together, in the canoe and on shore.