Author: Marek

Looking for a New Home

UPDATE Sept 2018 YES, we have a new shop! Moving forward we’ll be running Copper Canyon canoe as a a part time hobby business and will only be working with cedar and canvas canoes. As many of you may know, the the ownership of our much loved work shop recently changed hands and Copper Canyon…


Headwaters Canoes

I thought I’d share this beautiful video showcasing Headwaters Canoes. They’re locate just north of Ottawa in the Gatineau Hills where I spent much of my youth and learned the art of canoeing. Headwaters Canoes builds custom made wood canvas canoes.


Planking Shims Field Repair

Contrary to popular belief, canvas covered- canoes are rugged beasts. They are built to be used and, to some extent, abused. They are also designed to be “easily” repaired. One of the most frustrating aspects of repairing wood and canvas canoe is dealing with ill conceived and often poorly thought out field repairs, usually involving…


Removing Screws

In my last post Greenwood Canoe Screws I talked about the frustrating task of removing rusted gunnel screws from a Greenwood Canoe. After removing the screws from one side my shoulder was sore, my arm ached and I had numerous minor cuts and abrasions from fighting with Bill’s (&*(^Y*(&y!! screws. I decided to try something…


Greenwood Canoe Screws

Anyone who’s followed my blog or FaceBook page me know the high regard in which I hold Bill Greenwood and Greenwood Watercraft (aka Greenwood Canoe). However, with almost every Greenwood canoe I’ve encountered there comes a day when I use language not appropriate for a public posting. That’s the day when I must remove the…


Checking a Chestnut – Bob’s Special

There are days when I really love living on Vancouver Island. Yesterday was one of them, the sun was out, and the temperature warm enough for me to be out on the water with only a T-shirt. Secure in the knowledge that most of my fellow Canadians were busy shoveling snow, I felt I really…


Merry Christmas

Wishing all of you, friends, family, clientes and fellow canoeists a very merry Christmas. Happy Paddling Marek


Straight Paddling

The most essential stroke for the would be stern or solo paddler is the J-Stroke. Perhaps the best way to teach this is sitting on a dock, no one is going anywhere, and there’s no worries about tipping. The canoe instructor is also free observe and move around the students, guiding them as required. To…


Bill Mason – Canoe Quotes

“There is nothing that is so aesthetically pleasing and yet so functional and versatile as the canoe.” “I have always believed that the Canadian Wooden canoe is one of the greatest achievements of mankind. There is nothing that is so aesthetically pleasing and yet so functional and versatile as the canoe. It is as much…


Antique Cedar Strip Canoe

It’s funny how canoe construction has come almost full circle in the last 100 years. Last summer I came across this antique cedar strip beauty, owned by a gentleman living in Shawnigan Lake, BC. Before the advent of canvas covered canoes, European builders tried replacing the original birch bark canoe in various ways. However, matching…


My Date with a Stripper

I love restoring wood and canvas canoes. However, if there’s one job I don’t enjoy, it’s stripping old paint and varnish. Toxic fumes and chemical burns just aren’t my thing. Unfortunately, in my experience, the nastier the stripper, the better it works. My old standby is methylene chloride based “Circa® 1850 Heavy Body Paint &…


Path of the Paddle: Solo Basic

Solo Basic is our second installment of artist, film maker and canoe icon Bill Mason‘s incredible “Path of the Paddle” video series. As I’ve said before, through this series, it was Bill Mason who really taught me to canoe. I have spent countless hours alone in a canoe, running rivers, enjoying sunset paddles, listing to…


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