Australian Lifeguard magazine - Surf Life Saving Australia

the old salty dogSalty a great dog idea,wonder if it willever catch on!The invite came as a shock and it was pure bloody luckthat I even found it in the first place. The email hadslipped into my SPAM and I had stumbled upon it justbefore I pushed the delete button on the whole sorry pile.Titled ‘Salty Dog’ it demanded to be opened.“Hey Dog need you to come visit me reallysoon. I’m running the new Lifeguard Servicefor the King over here. Your ticket is at theAirport. Bluey”. I hadn’t heard from, oreven seen Bluey for years, worked with usin the nineties, awesome waterman anda great natural athlete. Super reliable inall situations the Boss would say. Bloodyripped he was, with a full six pack due tothe fact he would train like a Trojan. Didn’town a car, he just ran everywhere with hisbackpack on.He loved to mix it up in a group trainingenvironment and although you rarely sawhim swimming laps, if he joined the swimsquad for the morning set he would leadthe lane for sure. Thinking back Blueyreally could have been one of the bestsurf Ironmen but couldn’t hack the wholeclubbie scene or the guys that ran it.Worked seven straight seasons thenone year he just never fronted forthe trial and that was it.I’d heard a few stories like he’d married some rich Americanchick he’d met in Aspen and gone to live in California. A fewyears ago I bumped into a mate who told me he’d seen Bluey inAngola. Another said he saw Bluey selling copies of the Big Issueoutside the Covent Garden Underground. I suppose he was oneof those guys that was a friend to everyone but no one reallyknew him. Running the new Lifeguard service for the King overhere said the email but where the hell was here! A quick call toCustomer Service at the airport confirmed that, indeed, therewas a ticket for me and that Blueys new Lifeguard service waslocated in one of the world’s most Idyllic locations.The Dog was packed! It’s not often you get collected atthe airport by a chick in a bikini but sure enough there shewas holding up a sign with the word Dog on it. ‘Mister Dogwelcome!’ she said. ‘I take you to the hotel and then MisterBluey will pick you up from there’ - Mister Bluey eh! Things havechanged that’s for sure. 'How you been Dog' I turned quickly tosee Bluey striding toward me through the hotel foyer dressedin only boardies - he was still ripped for sure and the handshakewas as confusing as ever, you know the one, like they do inHawaii where you sort of focus on grabbing the thumb ratherthan the hand and then you slide down and lock the end of thefingers. Bluey proceeded to fills in the blanks. Aspen, Texas,Greek islands, UK, Japan, USA, Mexico and South Africa, but itwas a surfing trip right here that changed it all for Bluey.Surfing early one morning he rescued a young princess from arip at the islands main beach. Only problem with this one wasshe actually was a Princess. Yep, good old Bluey had rescuedthe bloody Kings daughter. That was five years ago and thatone incident prompted the Government to form a professionalLifeguard Service and Bluey was the man!‘It’s bloody dangerous all year round with heaps of swell comingout of the west’. ‘We've got 50 lifeguards at 25 beaches and allof the crew are local guys that grew up surfing on the reef andbeach breaks around the islands ‘, said Bluey sort of proudly.‘I got the King to buy some rescue boards, uniforms and radiosand away we went. No mechanical shit here dog. I saw the waylifeguarding was heading and it was pissing me off to be honest’.Bluey saying that reminded me of a conversationwe had years ago where Bluey believed that we weredeveloping a bunch of rev heads that all had theawards on paper but zero actual practical skills.Bluey believed that management was more interested inspending money on machines rather than developing thepractical skills to firstly prevent a rescue situation and then tocomplete the rescue without drama. ‘Bloody hell Dog, mostrescues are done 20 metres from shore not two kilometres out24 · Lifeguard · Issue 54 Summer Spring 2010 2011