My first summer working for Tat Exp was in 2014. My previous rafting experience was working on the Ottawa for a company that demanded military precision, crew cuts, and matching uniforms. That first day of work I arrived and shook hands with a man who would change my perspective of rafting, paddling, and the many channels of having fun. His name was Bob Daffe.
Kevin had a full plate with teaching Outdoor Ed, parenting a newborn, and managing a rafting business, so the new crew had the pleasure of working under Bob for the first month as we prepped for the season. I knew I was part of something unique from the first week of work. On day two of work, Bob had myself and Lindsay Meikle fire up the old school bus and learn how to drive. It was a trial by fire! We did a hot lap around the Jarvis street parking lot and then up Two-mile Hill and onto the highway to Porter Creek hauling a tandem axle trailer. A few stalls and chirps from Bob later, we arrived at Danielle’s house. We were gonna help move a shed to her new place in Mt Sima. Out came the farm jacks, throw bags, and pallets for cribbing. This was not what I expected for my first week working for a rafting company, but I reveled in every moment of it. We got that sucker loaded and tied down with a spider web of throw bags! It was now Lindsay’s turn to drive the bus. Holay fuck, I was relieved and my armpits stopped sweating.
We arrived at the new place in Mt Sima and backed the trailer up to the new location for the shed. Bob had to go back to town with another truck and left Lindsay and me with the task of unloading the woodshed. Easy, right? “No problem” we said. “We’ll have it unloaded and level by the time your back.” Well the two of us scratched our brains about how to get this thing off the trailer for over an hour. Bob arrived back from town and to his dismay, the shed was still on the trailer. At that moment I witnessed something that I had not seen or heard before but would see many times in the future. I was about to witness Bob Daffe “Get Shit Done!”
Nothing was said, but Bob got a twinkle in his eye and began whistling Morning Has Broken. He grabbed a throw bag and walked around the shed tying a big loop around it. He then sauntered over to the only anchor point behind the trailer which happened to be a scraggly little spruce and tied the other end to it. As he stepped into the bus and fired it up I could see what was unfolding, but I still asked Bob, “What can I do.” He chuckled and said “stay the fuck back.” He popped the clutch like a drag racer on that old bus and goosed it as the shed came flying off the trailer! It came off a little cock eyed and couldn’t stick the landing as it tumbled onto its side and cracked the roof. Nothing a couple of farm jacks and some extra nails couldn’t fix.
I stood in awe as Bob had single-handedly completed our task in less than 10 minutes of his arrival back. Morning has broken and so did the woodshed! Over the next 8 years, I would be inspired by countless feats of Bob’s creativity and quick thinking whether it was unloading a trailer or performing a rescue. I always knew Bob Daffe had my back, both in life and on the river.
