Wooden canoe evangelism?

Benson --

I would talk to Dylan and Emily Schoelzel of Salmon Falls Canoe. In addition to building wooden canoes, they are active in the management and operation of Camp Keewaydin in Canada and in the maintenance of the camp's fleet of canoes. I believe that Keewaydin uses wooden canoes exclusively, and uses them seriously, for wilderness trips of a few weeks at a time for the older campers. I am sure Dylan and Emily have some well-thought-out ideas about using wooden canoes at a summer camp.

And since you were foolish enough to ask, a thought or two of my own --

I suppose that it depends on what the camp experience is supposed to be. If the camp is simply a place where kids are parked for the summer, largely to keep them entertained and out of the way, then I suppose almost any kind of boat would do -- a plastic canoe is just another gadget for having casual fun.

But if the camp is intended to give the kids an appreciation that the world has more to offer them than what they experience in their ordinary day-to-day life, then it becomes reasonable to ask them, and their counselors, to do more than simply entertain themselves in the easiest way they can. For example, in some camps, kids feed and care for farm animals and vegetable gardens that provide some of the food they eat. They have to gather eggs and learn to milk cows. Not efficient, and not "fun" in the usual sense, but something kids can learn to do, and learn from, and even come to value, if not enjoy. Similarly, using and caring for wooden canoes can be a way to get in touch with, and appreciate, a part of the world that most of the kids (mostly from urban and suburban environments, I suspect) don't really know.

Appreciating an environment where water and woods replace paved streets and manicured lawns calls for a certain disconnect from their usual world. Using a canoe that is only one step removed from the birch bark, a canoe that must be cared for if it is to perform, can help disconnect from the modern world of synthetic materials that essentially need no care.

A canoe does not have to be just an appliance -- it can be an experience. And just as cooking real food over an open fire is a different experience than boiling water on a Coleman stove for a freeze-dried meal, canoeing in, and caring for, a w/c canoe is a different experience than paddling and (not) caring for a plastic canoe. A freeze-dried meal and a pan-fried trout can both feed you after a day on the river, and a w/c and a plastic canoe can both get you from point A to point B. Each way gets a job done, but they are just not the same thing, because just getting a job done should not be what camping (or life) is all about.

It's not that there is anything wrong with canoes made of modern materials in a modern factory -- many of us have one or two. They are rugged and don't ask much care from the user -- which is why they are easier to use. But a canoe that is, in large part, made by hand from materials that are not indestructible, does demand attention and care to maintain and use to full potential, and it can pull the paddler deeper into the activity of paddling and traveling in natural (or even wild) surroundings -- in other words, pull them into seeing that the world is wider and richer than they might otherwise know.

A camp's program would have to be shaped to deal with the somewhat different skills needed and the different treatment required for a wooden canoe -- just as any camping trip has to be planned differently if you are going to cook over an open fire instead of using a gas stove. The program would have to be designed to provide counselors and campers with the skills and the extra time and effort needed (just as the camp that had the kids caring for animals and a truck garden made those activities an integral part of the camp program).

Having a mixed fleet of mostly the less demanding plastic canoes along with a few token wooden canoes might not be best for such a program.

Greg

 

I just thought that I would comment that these summer camps that use wood canoes may be a source of future WCHA members.

I recently saw a video about a camp in Minnesota that emphasized the care necessary for their canoes. The kids were reminded that the canoe was their way out of the bush.

 

Great question Benson, and I look forward to reading other responses.

Greg makes many good points.

My suggestion is to get the councilors into a wooden canoe for a side by side demo.

The wooden canoe 'experience' should sell itself - natural, historic, authentic materials, with a quiet, beautiful look and substantial 'feel' while under paddle. If they don't get the wood/canvas 'positives' of this comparison the rest of the discussion probably won't matter.

Good luck and let us know what about the discussion, regardless of outcome.

 

Nail them to a tree until they understand and finally see the light. The type of tree doesnt matter, preferably a White Cedar.