{"id":12874,"date":"2017-08-31T10:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T17:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.nrs.com\/?p=12874"},"modified":"2017-09-18T14:17:03","modified_gmt":"2017-09-18T21:17:03","slug":"the-inspirations-of-a-kayaktavist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.nrs.com\/duct-tape\/2017\/08\/31\/the-inspirations-of-a-kayaktavist\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inspirations of a Kayaktivist"},"content":{"rendered":"

A dozen of us are scattered around a white sand beach on the Brook\u2019s Peninsula in British Columbia dressing fresh caught salmon and ling, tending children, carving on a totem pole, taking a quick dip, tossing discs, or like Irene Skyriver, prepping the evening meal. Wearing a skirted shawl, Irene stirs a huge fire blackened wok full of rice and beans over a bed of hot coals, her raven hair twisted up into a bun, pierced with sticks and feathers but spilling out to frame a handsome, weather-seamed face. A pirate\u2019s smile and flashing white teeth set the tone. About the size of a tall grasshopper, the girl looks as if she popped right out of Mother Earth.<\/p>\n

I first met Irene when I moved to the San Juan Islands and got to know her better on month long kayak sojourns like this. A truly remarkable person, she is nevertheless modest and self-effacing\u00a0and will no doubt blush when she reads this.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The girl gets around. A spark plug leader in a counter-culture community like ours, Irene is involved in a litany of events, rituals, barn dances, potlucks, care-for’s and go-to’s. She raised three kids as a single mom. Now there\u2019s a gonzo garden (think Jack\u2019s magic beans), Eponis, her speckle Appaloosa, and her two milk goats, Trillium and Gaia. Season that with road trips to the southwest and Mexico, riding race horses in Tibet, adventuring in Guatemala, Greece, India and Turkey, and of course, time with the six grandkids.<\/p>\n

That might describe several people I know on the island, but when you walk your talk all the way to the Dakotas to stand with Standing Rock, join up with kayaktivist demonstrators in Seattle to give Shell Oil a second opinion, crush a multi-month solo kayak expedition from AK back to the island here and then publish a first book, an autobiographical novel\u2014well, no one can compare to Irenie.<\/p>\n

Recently, my wife and I had dinner at Skyriver Ranch with her, her husband Gregg Blomberg and a mutual friend. Afterward, I was inspired to sit her down and ask some questions to share to strangers and friends alike.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How did you get started as a kayaker and adventurer and who inspired you along the way?
\n<\/strong>My early trips to the wild northwest coast of Vancouver Island with my soon-to-be husband, made me want to spend the few extra dollars I had to buy my own kayak. I knew it would be money well spent. I also reasoned that the reality of living on an island made owning a kayak a no brainer. I could set out on even small adventures in every direction from the shores of my island home. If ever I should have no gasoline, or money or car, I could still have adventures. My dad was an adventurer. He\u2019d fly every summer to Alaska in his own two-seater plane to find work as a mechanic. He was good at using his imagination to combine what he loved, with the work he needed to do, to support our family.<\/p>\n

In an article I recently read about the Shell Oil rig demonstration in Seattle, the term ‘kayaktivism\u2019 and kayaktivist\u2019 were used. Could you explain what those terms really mean and how you see yourself among that kayaktivist community?
\n<\/strong>I have always believed in the philosophy of \u201cEARTH FIRST!\u201d And, true, kayaks are made of plastic, but the magnitude of environmental destruction is beyond quibbling over what vehicle we use to get ourselves to the frontlines in protest. Years ago, I voiced that I would paddle my kayak in front of the oil tankers when we first learned their plans for new departure ports, from just north of us, in the San Juan Islands. The pipelines were on the way! It has been a few years since those first warnings of increased oil tankers and now that reality draws much nearer. In the meanwhile, other fierce flotillas of activists have formed and I\u2019ve had the empowering opportunity to join their forces: in Seattle to attempt to stop the Shell Oil exploration rig from departing to the arctic and here, closer to home, the kayaktivism that took place last year at the Anacortes oil refinery. Standing up against corporate powers, in a giant flotilla of kayakers, is just one more way to say \u201cwe are watching our waters and we will not allow the destruction of this ecosystem without a fight!\u201d<\/p>\n