A GONZO event is never cancelled for any reason. This code has again allowed an extraordinary sight/viewing to take place last night in Lake Thomas.

Arriving at the Warnica Marina for the regular (all welecome)Wednesday night paddle/training session Dipper and I were greeted "again" by high winds whipping the water into small white caps. Also all time low temperatures for the time of year.

We were also greeted with the news that Viking and Helga were going out to dinner and would not be paddling that night. (note dinner was to be at the Esquire Restaurant, that silver haired/ bus tour clientel kitchen on the Bedford Highway-Does that say anything about our growing age?)

Fireball was nowhere to be seen, MOTOR was out with the girls, precelebrating Allison's coming nuptuals, and IMAX is still on the shelf.

Maybe a good night to just sit around the TV and sip tea?

NO, we must always move foreward.

Deciding discretion the better part of valour, leaving the kayaks and "Stealth" on the shore, we took out the "sea" worthy Old Town Camper canoe and headed north into the wind, water smashing against our bow. Tough to keep straight into the wind, we worked hard to the end of the lake. Flying back down the lake we noticed a BIG otter or muscrat off in the distance. After "surfing" all the way down to the #102 we did a 360*, back into the wind up the right hand side near Inn On the Lake, then had some fun ferrying across the lake, just holding our position.

Noting our 1.5 hours of paddling time was coming to an end we were heading back to Gordon's when we again saw the otter, but it was toooooooo big. I said that's a seal, knowing deep in my mind we weren't in the ocean. After arguing for a bit the animal kept surfacing and eyeballing us, slipping back into the water. The more we saw it the more we were agreeing it looked a lot like a seal and nothing else. It was big, we were guessing 80+ lbs.

As we were 400 yards, meters for those under 40, it came up right behind the canoe, no more than 10 feet away---------magical------There was no doubt it was a seal, probably a Harbour Seal---but it was in a lake.

Visions of Jaws, canoers gorged by rabid seal, went through our minds.

As a closing note I have been talking to a biologist at The Museum this am and Harbour seals do habit freash water at times and we figured this guy probably came up the Subenacadie or Stewiacke Rivers from Minas Basin through Grand Lake.

NEVER LET A BIT OF WEATHER CHANGE YOUR PLANS, IT COULD BE THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME.

Love and kisses

Sg

-- The Sun god