I moved up to the Yukon in the fall of 1998. I was a fresh teacher scheduled to work as an assistant with Bob Sharp on his ‘Experiential Science’ Outdoor Education program. Upon meeting Bob Sharp, I quickly met the students of the class which included the young Kevin Daffe. Kevin and I immediately started talking all-things-kayaking as I commented on a T-shirt he was wearing with the Tatshenshini Expediting logo on it.
After meeting Kevin that fall, I was quickly recruited to join the ‘Team Yukon’ Kayak Polo Team in the winter… a highly recognized group of rag-tag paddlers who were all about fun. At the pool, I met Bob Daffe, Theresa, and a handful of other incredible folks who shared the love of whitewater.
The following spring and summer, we all hit the water hard. I was dragged out (very willingly that is) to many different whitewater runs in the area… with Bob Daffe leading the charge. He was so welcoming to everyone that was on each river trip and treated all the paddlers with the same respect whether they were 16 or 60. Shuttles were always a breeze as Bob would generally have things dialed with a bus, motorbike, or mini-van that could accommodate everyone on the road trips to and from the rivers… these were such great times with constant laughs and conversation.
Over the course of that paddling season, Bob continued to hound me to get in a raft as I was only into whitewater kayaking at the time. Bob would ‘raft’ up with me, in his kayak, and he would try to convince me how I would love being a raft guide. I constantly turned him down as I just wanted to ‘be in my kayak’. He kept asking me to raft, and I kept declining. Bob finally broke me to take his raft-guide course with the incentive of ‘fun-summer-work’. I will be eternally grateful to Bob for eventually convincing me to raft-guide. I ended up spending ~5-6 seasons working day trips out of the Tat-Camp and also going on 10-day Tatshenshini-long trips each season.
I have so many amazing memories of my Tat-Family over those years and all of the folks who wandered in and out of that camp, and on and off the river.
Years later, after moving back to southern BC… in 2007, Bob contacted me asking if I wanted to join a kayak-raft expedition to Nepal he was trying to put together. Bob and Theresa had been to Nepal before and he had the plan to hit 6 different rivers in a month, in addition to some ‘jungle’ time thrown in there… It was easy for Bob to convince me this time… I hadn’t seen the Tat-Family for quite a few years and I was very keen to get on this trip. Nepal 2007 was an incredible experience with a great group of folks, I am forever grateful yet again to have spent this time with Bob, Theresa, and the crew.
I am now lucky enough to live ‘on the river’, high above the Columbia… only 5 min from an incredible surf wave… I’m quite sure that Bob will join me on a river-surf-session, here on my home wave, one day in the future, and I sure look forward to that.
After that time on the river together, I’ll be raising my beer, sending a huge CHEERS to Bob, and saying his line… ‘Life is Good’….
BA Belton
Tat-Exp Alumni
