September 1, 2010

Cooperation

Written by: Jake Todd, Social Studies Teacher, Bartlett High School

I had been on the Igushik River for about a month. A rookie many times over: First ride in a plane that felt more like a tandem bike, first time in the bush, first time worrying about walking into a bear. The mountains were serene, and the stream that my camp was on was tranquil and quiet; the closest civilization to us was the village of Manakotaq, about 6 hours away by boat. Fish & Game had called me where I was working and asked if I would like to be an emergency replacement for a field worker at a fish counting station in Bristol Bay. I quit my restaurant job, bussing tables, that day.

Adjusting to the NPR schedule and pilot crackers was more comfortable than I would have thought. I was quick to find the rhythm and relax. Perhaps we were too relaxed. Two days before our boss was supposed to fly out with mail and inspect our camp, disaster struck. I lost the boat. I had not been tying the boat up when I came to shore, I would just come in hot, beach it like a Turnagain beluga, and be on my merry way.

Not this time. We were in serious trouble.

The three of us held a huddle. We revised the to-do-list. In front of “do dishes” and “catch up on field sample data,” we all agreed “find the boat” should take precedence. This was about to be the mess up of the summer. Worse than the time we accidentally asked for beer during a radio call when every commercial and subsistence fisherman in the bay was listening in. Worse than when we forgot to call in at all. I had lost our means of transportation.

Just as we were loading up the shotgun with rubber bear scare shells, we heard the din of a distant outboard. Every 5 or 6 days, a boat would go past us on the way to the lake, from the village. I waved. The boaters were seldom interested enough to look to see if anyone was around our camp. As I heard the boat get closer, I left the cabin and walked down to the river.

I saw two villagers in a new looking Lund coming up the river, angling into the little cove we usually had our boat parked in. The driver got just close enough to the bank to be out of the current.

“Hey,” he said.

“How’s it going?”

“Good. Did you guys lose a boat?” He asked.

“Yeah, I think I did.”

“We saw one going down the river, but no one was driving. You want a ride down to it?”

“You know it! Thanks! You just rescued me, and I wasn’t even in the boat!”