My story with Bob is not unique. I am one of many individuals that were mentored by him in the world of whitewater kayaking, rafting, and most recently packrafting. What’s different is that I had the opportunity to work for Bob and to work alongside him for over a decade. During that time, I spent many hours with him en route somewhere. Rafting is 20% on the water fun, yelling out commands to eager clients not knowing what whitewater lays around the next cut bank. But in actual fact, 80% of it is carrying things around. Paddles, inflated rafts, deflated rafts, lifejackets, wetsuits, helmets, raft frames…the list goes on.
One summer rolled into the next, and Bob’s business was making a splash. He branched out and connected with the people of Skagway Alaska, (shout out to Chris Seagal) and before he knew it demands for rafting the Tutshi and kayaking lessons took off. He and I just came off multiple Tutshi trips, some doubleheader days, but this time we were teaching kayaking to some local Alaskans. Bob decided the lower section of the Tutshi was a good place to teach the fundamentals of kayaking. It’s a calm basic section of the river perfect for newbies and close to the border. Reading water, paddle strokes, eddy turns, and rolling. The class went as they all did, one or two people picked it up the remainder swam a lot, all had fun though. Bob’s teaching style lent itself to positive outcomes with success and fun being at the forefront.
Bob always had an interest to find adventure and test his skillset as a boater. He was positively obsessed. Before I knew it I went from instructor to student. “Want to run the Sieve?” He asks. With the day in day out grind of pushing rubber, Bob needs a quick reset. A reminder of why he got into this business in the first place. The Sieve is this final drop on the Tutshi River that no one usually runs. A because it’s out of the way and B, it’s scary, big and like the name is surrounded by sieve-like boulders. A major red flag in the boating world. Eager to have the opportunity to see this drop I nod my head “Yes” and we go scope it out. He makes the class follow us to the eddy above the drop, and we all get out to scout. The folks in the class shout out. “ You want to run that!!” “ You’re crazy!” I can’t hear them over the roaring howl of the Sieve. It’s a big drop double the size of No Show Off. I look at Bob and see where he is looking to find his line. He shows me the hazards, and what boulders to stay away from. He points to the water and explains how it moves down and through the boulders. He has a way of making time stand still in those moments. Everything slows down and I begin to see what he sees. My heart is racing fast! My breathing accelerates. Bob peels off, no expression, hits the lip of the drop just at the right angle, floats down the Sieve right where the water smashes out of the hole at the bottom, and blasts between two towering boulders. He taps his head twice. The kayaking clients are speechless, jaws dropped, then cheering. I’m shaking my head, my turn. Hearts beating even faster, the calmness of seeing the line gone, but I’m focused. I remember how Bob did it, ferry to the lip, angle the boat, and wham, I crash through the hole, it’s all reflexes now I see the boulder sieves, keep my boat straight, and I’m through. Bob’s there smiling, “Life is Good!” he says.
