Chapter 2

I traded in my car on a small motorhome and over the next year and a half, I wandered all over the US and Canada trying to find that elusive ‘something’ that would give me peace. I never seemed to find it until finally I wound up in one of the communities in Haida Gwaii (In order to protect the community’s privacy, I’m not going to say which one). I became deeply interested in the beliefs of the Haida community and became quite friendly with one of the Haida elders. (The gentleman asked that I not use his name so I’ll just call him ‘my elder friend’ in the story.) As I lived among the community and participated with them in their rituals, I found I was able to sleep better and felt more at peace with myself. It seemed I’d finally found that elusive ‘something’ I’d been searching for even though I couldn’t say exactly what it was.

At one point, I’d sold my motorhome, rented a small house and had bought a pickup truck to get around in. In my time with the Haida, I’d often gone out with various members of the community in their boats as they fished, both for their own needs as well as to sell and I’d become a fairly good seaman. I let it be known that I’d like to purchase a small boat suitable for deep sea sport fishing. Several boats were offered to me but all of them seemed to be either too small or too big. Too small a boat would likely mean I couldn’t comfortably live on it if I chose to go out for several days, too big a boat meant I wouldn’t be able to handle it by myself.

One day I was told to go and see an elderly gentleman who apparently had a boat like I was seeking and one that he might be willing to sell. I met with the gentleman and discovered his boat was just the size I was seeking. During a prolonged visit with the gentleman, I learned that he had fished by himself using that boat for many years. As my visit came to an end the gentleman and I reached an agreement and I purchased his boat.

Now, with a boat that was suitable for use on the ocean, I started exploring the coast of the island I was on. Strangely, something seemed to push me into exploring more of the smaller uninhabited islands in the surrounding waters, so with detailed marine charts in hand, off I went on my journey of exploration. Often these trips would last several days and each night I would find some sheltered area where I could anchor and stay safe while I slept.

On one of the trips, I came across a small island (just under 10 miles long and just over a mile wide I later discovered) that looked to have been inhabited at some point in time although it now appeared deserted. I anchored my boat and using the dinghy, rowed ashore to explore. Once on the island I could see, as I had thought, that someone had been living on the island in the past. I found the remains of a cabin that had the roof caved in. An inspection of the cabin and the area around it led me to believe it could be repaired and that a person could live comfortably on the island but that they would have to be prepared for the isolation that would bring.

As I started back towards the shore where the dinghy was, I got an intense feeling that I should move here to this island. I stopped and looked out to sea and then back towards the cabin site and almost instantly made up my mind to make this island my home. Instead of leaving, I spent the balance of that day as well as all of the next exploring the island. The more I walked around, the more I became convinced that I was meant to be here. That first night at the island I had a very weird dream but I forgot about it – until much, much later.