O’ Canada, Where Art Thou?

Days 21-24

Nelson is a great town and I fell in love with it almost immediately. It is located in the southeast of BC, in the “Kootenay” region. Most small towns in this area of the country have been on the decline because of the downturn in the logging industry. But Nelson is different; it is thriving and its people seem to have a special outlook toward community. As one of my hosts said, “People choose to be here”. While tourism is a big industry here in the summer and winter, the town has maintained its identity. If you have ever seen the movie Roxanne, then you are already a little familiar with Nelson because this is where they filmed it.

I stayed with some wonderful people here, Sandi and Brooke, who own a hostel in to…..the Dancing Bear Inn. They were great in showing me the town and connecting me with people who may be of interest for photo essays.

I had a great few days here and I wished I could have stayed longer. But I have a distinct feeling that I will return.

For those of you who know me well, the title of this post should spell trouble as I am not the most seaworthy of folks, never mind that I don’t have a low center of gravity for balance.

My gracious hosts in Nelson, BC, Sandi and Brooke, asked if I wanted to go on a Dragon Boat ride on the lake. I had a vague sense of what a dragon boat was, and in my extreme ignorance I assumed it was a leisurely trip down the lake. I think a gondola is what I had in my mind.

I found out about an hour before we headed to the lake that they were on a team that will be competing in September. Granted it is an amateur team, but still…..I guess this was no gondola. When we appeared at the boat house on the lake, I saw the Dragon Boat….oh, it seats 22 people and they all paddle at once to go. Yikes. The captain of the team was nice enough to let me suit up and go along and I just hoped that I wouldn’t ruin their training, especially given that I had never held a paddle, let alone use one.

When the rest of the team went for a brisk walk to warm up, the team captain asked if I could help take the canoe out and unhook the Dragon Boat from its tie, which was anchored about 20 feet away from the walkway. Gulp, “sure”. Can’t she see the ambiguity and anxiety on my face?

This is a simple task, but I know she did not realize how much of a dufus I am when it comes to this stuff. So I carry the canoe out of the hut with one of the other team members and we put it in the water. They tell me to get in and I slowly put one foot in the center and then I try to swing the other one in quickly and the boat sways back and forth; I can feel myself losing my balance and I think about my small camera on my belt. This would not be good. Not at all. I somehow recapture my balance and barely make it into the canoe. The other team member at the front of the boat asked what happened (nicely, of course) and it really was just Forman being Forman.

Meanwhile, we get the boat untied and all is well. I take my place at the back of the boat. We are about to get underway (we have about 20 people on this boat) and I have no idea how to use the paddle that is in my hand. All of these folks in the boat have been at this for several weeks; I just didn’t want to screw up the timing. The gentleman behind me showed me what to do and off we went. And let me tell you, it was a workout and the motion you use is not a natural one. So I have my eyes set on my stroke, but I also have to watch the team member in the middle of the boat to make sure I have the timing down. But all of a sudden we were all in sync and the sun was setting and it was quite the experience. And you should see these guys start from a standing position…..pretty great stuff.

Anyway, I thought I would share this experience because it was a lot of fun and because I almost toppled the canoe and got all wet. Best of luck to the Nelson team in the mid-September race!

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