Tuna Fishing Adventures, Nova Scotia

It’s been more than 9 days, 12 hours and 42 minutes since I stepped off the Fisher’s Grant, a tuna fishing boat docked in Cape George, Nova Scotia. Not a minute has passed since that I haven’t thought about that trip.

The day started with extraordinarily high hopes. The boats captain, A.J. Francis of Tuna Adventures had called me late the day before. I could hear the excitement in his voice. He told about the days events, “One of our best days yet!” Seven tuna hooked and four of them brought boat side before being gently released back into the depths. The biggest fish was an estimated 900+ pounds, while the smallest was a measly little 400 pounder. Hardly worth the trouble I’m sure.

My original plan was to make the three-hour drive up to Cape George early in the morning and have a quick nap before the sun came up and our adventure would begin. I was way too excited to sleep. Instead, I climbed the rocks near the marina and sat quietly, watching a bright red sun rise from the sea. A.J. arrived shortly after and greeted me with a big smile and firm handshake. We climbed on board his boat the Fisher’s Grant, a 45 foot fiberglass boat built by Doucette for one purpose, catching big fish. The first mate John Gavin arrived and within minutes we set off.

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Canadian Fisheries Minister Assaulted With A Tofu Pie!

I saw this headline on one of those news tickers on the TTC. It read something like, “Fisheries minister takes a pie to the face in Burlington. Women in custody. No injuries.”. That was so strange that I had to look it up when I got home, sure enough I found the video on CBC News.

Police charged a 37-year-old woman with assault after she hit Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea in the face with a pie Monday at an event in Burlington, Ont.

Shea was delivering a speech at the Canada Centre for Inland Waters to open the Aquatic Life Research Facility when Emily McCoy of New York City stood up in the front row and planted the white cream pie squarely in Shea’s face.

“Shame on you, Gail Shea,” McKoy said before making a reference to the “bloody seal hunt.”

The pie aimed at Shea was apparently made of tofu, though the fisheries minister told the Hamilton Spectator that it “tasted like shaving cream.”

Shea did not require medical attention and returned to the podium after wiping the pie from her face.

“We’re certainly sorry for that delay, but unfortunately these types of incidents come with the type of business that I’m in,” she said.

“But back to the business at hand,” she said.

via CBC News

Only In Canada

Every now and then I read a headline that could have only come from Canada. Two such headlines popped up within the last week.

Halifax bus driver suspended after beating toy seal with stick
This one doesn’t surprise me. I’ve lived in Halifax for almost two years now and the behavior of the local bus drivers is just unreal. They’ve been all over the news for causing accidents and all sorts of other shenanigans, but this one is by far the funniest. This particular driver drove past an anti-seal hunt protest, he stopped the bus, got out, and proceeded to beat a toy seal that was being used as a prop.

“He exited the bus and went over to the area where the protesters were, and began beating on the stuffed animal seal that was on the ground there,” said Staff Sgt. Don Fox of the Halifax Regional Police.

The driver used a stick to beat the stuffed toy.

Fox said police officers removed the driver from the protest area and contacted his supervisors. The driver then got back on his bus and continued with his workday, according to police.

Only in Canada could a man charge a group of people wielding a stick, beat on their toys, and then be allowed by police to go back to his job as if nothing had ever happened.

Man who survived Niagara Falls jump in suicide bid is recovering
Only a Canadian could survive such a fall. Just three people have ever survived a trip over the 180 foot high falls without some sort of protective gear such as a barrel. As if the fall wasn’t bad enough, the temperatures are frigid, and the current below the falls is intense. The jumper was found swimming below the falls without an clothes, apparently they were torn off by the force of the water. And after more then 40 minute in the water, trying to avoid rescue, the man was pulled from the ice water and rushed to hospital. I wish this was somehow fishing related, but sadly it’s not.

Witnesses said he climbed a fence, jumped into the icy Niagara River and was washed over Horseshoe Falls. Stunned tourists said the man went in with his clothes on but popped up naked – apparently the force of the water ripped off his clothes.