Paddling News

Author: Jim Fox, Freelance Writer

Canoe gridlock will hit the famed Peterborough Lift Lock next month.

It's part of an idea being "floated" by enthusiasts of the Canadian icon for a National Canoe Day they're planning to hold on June 26.

"We'll be trying to jam the lift lock with as many canoes as we can," said James Raffan, executive director of the Canadian Canoe Museum.

The dual-lift locks on the Otonabee River along the Trent-Severn Waterway are the world's highest hydraulic boat lifts, rising 19.8 metres (65 feet).

And, you don't have to paddle your canoe all by yourself. Fill it up with paddling enthusiasts and share the workload.

The event is among many cross-country happenings over 11 days in Celebrate Canada!, which leads up to Canada Day on Parliament Hill.

This all began last June when the museum hosted a party at the locks to celebrate the canoe being voted one of Canada's seven wonders in a CBC Radio-TV poll.

The other wonders are the igloo, Niagara Falls, Old Quebec City, Pier 21 (the historic immigration port in Halifax), prairie skies and the Rocky Mountains.

About 50 canoes filled the locks, with about 150 people at the celebration -- numbers that are expected to increase this year, said Anthony Berardi, museum marketing co-ordinator.

People from across Canada, as far away as Inuvik, contacted the museum last June to say they were holding spontaneous events of their own.

This was far too much fun for a one-time affair, so it was decided that it will be a yearly event.

There will be a "declaration or two by local dignitaries and music, fellowship, cake and lots of other paddling Canadians with whom to celebrate the canoe as a wonder of Canada," Raffan said.

If you can't make it to Peter-borough, "take your canoe to lunch, paddle with a friend, paddle with lots of friends, sing canoe songs, read canoe stories, fill your canoe with ice and cold drinks and have a party . . ." he suggests.

Or "make a canoe video, have a paddle picnic or a canoe-be-que, portage up main street, save gas and paddle to work, have a canoe-a-thon to raise money for a worthy cause, paddle to Parliament or your provincial or territorial legislature, whatever -- just do it in a canoe on National Canoe Day."

The museum wants to hear about other events by e-mailing This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with "details, plans, stories, pictures" to be posted on its website.

Also available are stickers declaring: "My Canoe is a Wonder."

Third time soggy is an appropriate title for the Canadian Canoe Museum's third Cardboard Canoe Race on May 31.

You could win the infamous "Most Spectacular Sinking" award and be heading down the river without a paddle or canoe.

"There are so many dumpings, this is always the hardest category to judge," said Dwayne James, an event organizer.

Teams of four or more are given a limited amount of time to build a canoe out of cardboard, plastic and duct tape.

Then they paddle these creations in an open-water race for awards including Best Time and Most Original Design.

The event begins at 1 p.m. at the "Johnson property" on Little Lake, beside the bridge directly north of Peterborough's Beavermeade Park.

Meanwhile, the fifth annual Canadian Rivers Day takes place June 8, with events scheduled across the country.

The day is held to "promote public awareness and wise stewardship of the rich natural, cultural and recreational values of Canada's rivers," says the Canadian Heritage Rivers System.

"It is an opportunity for all Canadians to honour and commemorate the important, sustaining role of rivers in maintaining healthy ecosystems," adds the national river conservation program.

A journey of a lifetime is being taken by 160 paddlers in the 2008 David Thompson Brigade from Alberta to Ontario.

The trip, which began yesterday, is a bicentennial commemoration of a journey by geographer David Thompson.

The brigade left Rocky Mountain House, Alta., and is paddling and portaging over 63 days and 3,600 kilometres to Old Fort William (Thunder Bay), on the northwest shore of Lake Superior.

Over 27 years in the late 1700s and early 1800s, Thompson, a pathfinder, surveyor and map-maker, travelled 107,000 kilometres over an area covering 3.9-million square kilometres.

IF YOU PADDLE
To learn more about the National Canoe Day and the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough: www.canoemuseum.net; 1-888-34-CANOE.

To enter a team in the Cardboard Canoe Race, contact Dwayne James, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; (705) 876-3387.

For details about the Canadian Heritage Rivers System and Canada River Day events: www.chrs.ca; E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Check on the David Thompson Brigade at www.2008thompsonbrigade.com

Article Source: Canoe.ca