In the fall of 2013, Mark Wheen, a physics and mathematics instructor at Pearson College UWC, took a group of students on a four-day canoe trip around Salt Spring Island.
By the end of the second day on the water, he began to see how valuable the experience was for them and how much they were enjoying it, and the gears started turning in his mind. They had rented a 26-foot voyageur canoe for the excursion, and he thought, B次元官网网址淲hat if we had one of these at the school? Better yet, how cool would it be to build one of our own?B次元官网网址�
He took some measurements of the vessel they were using, just in case he ever got the chance to do it.
Standing next to it now, glistening in the sunlight beside the water on the shore of Pedder Inlet, he beams at his students who put in the effort to bring the project to fruition, and the pride is evident on his face.
When the team began, they could only get a general idea of what it could become from other sources, because there just simply isnB次元官网网址檛 a lot of instructional material out there for building a vessel like this. While Wheen had the measurements from the canoe theyB次元官网网址檇 rented the previous year and a few books and YouTube videos as resources, some of what they were going to do had to be calculated carefully and developed on their own.
B次元官网网址淚n terms of rigging the seats and scaling the boat itself, there were some unique problems to solve while building it, but thatB次元官网网址檚 what made it fun,B次元官网网址� Wheen says.
B次元官网网址淣ormally, when you build a canoe, itB次元官网网址檚 typically 16 or 17 feet long, and so the strips (of wood) you use are that long, but this is a 26-foot boat, so weB次元官网网址檇 have to glue two or three strips together first before we actually constructed the hull from those strips. There was a fair bit of preparation that went into the building before the actual building took place, thatB次元官网网址檚 for sure.B次元官网网址�
They also constructed it so that it could take a sail, which the instructor is looking forward to trying in the near future.
B次元官网网址淚t was fun,B次元官网网址� says Janice Chen, a second-year Pearson student from Hong Kong. Having never worked with wood in any way before, she says, it was a bit intimidating having her first woodworking project of any kind be a 26-foot voyageur canoe. B次元官网网址淚t was difficult at first, but I think as we got the ball rolling it got a lot easier as we went along.B次元官网网址�
When it came time for fibreglassing the boat, however, Chen took the lead, according to Wheen. Because she had previously done some patchwork on the schoolB次元官网网址檚 kayaks using fibreglass, she was the only one who had any experience with that B次元官网网址� including their instructor B次元官网网址� but this project was a whole different animal.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 never done a full sheet of fibreglass that covered a whole boat,B次元官网网址� Chen says. B次元官网网址淚t was very painstaking. ItB次元官网网址檚 a very big boat and itB次元官网网址檚 a very long process.B次元官网网址�
The plan now is for Wheen and the students who built it to spend five days paddling it around the Southern Gulf Islands, leaving from Island View Beach on the Saanich Peninsula, making their way around Sidney Island, Portland Island and DB次元官网网址橝rcy Island before returning to Pearson.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檒l be interesting to be in a boat for five hours straight and not be overwhelmed by sea songs,B次元官网网址� Chen says laughing, as everyone looks toward Dom Arsenault, attending the school from Prince Edward Island, who apparently has a few sea shanties heB次元官网网址檚 been sharing with the group throughout the process.
So what was it like to have completed a project like this, have a finished product, put it in the water and step inside to find yourself floating in something youB次元官网网址檝e created by hand?
B次元官网网址淚t was just amazing,B次元官网网址� says first-year Pearson student Emil Toft from Denmark. B次元官网网址淲hen we started with stripping the wood, it was like, how is this ever going to be a boat? And itB次元官网网址檚 such a relief, seeing it now, like this,B次元官网网址� he says, beaming at the
finished product glimmering beside the water.
B次元官网网址淢y first thought was just, B次元官网网址榃ow, itB次元官网网址檚 floating!B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� says Astrid Berge, another first-year student. B次元官网网址淏ut IB次元官网网址檝e really enjoyed building it. Even though it was endless hours of sanding and looking like old grandmas covered in sawdust. ItB次元官网网址檚 really something to be able to create something like this from scratch that now you can go out and use.B次元官网网址�
ArsenaultB次元官网网址檚 parents came to town about midway through the construction and were concerned about whether it would ever come together enough to be safe for a voyage.
B次元官网网址淚 think they were a bit skeptical, because it was being built by students,B次元官网网址� he says, but when they came back out after its completion and saw it, they had confidence in the vessel, which is good. After all, they know a thing or two about boats out there on the East Coast.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e kind of gotten nostalgic building this boat,B次元官网网址� Wheen says, smiling at the vessel and the students who helped build it. B次元官网网址淥ne thing IB次元官网网址檝e been thinking about is the significance of the canoe to Canada. These students are coming from all around the world, and to have the opportunity to build a boat like this, with this kind of historical significance, I think that really means something.B次元官网网址�
ItB次元官网网址檚 also a fantastic contribution these students have given to the college that will be a legacy for both themselves to leave behind and for the school to have going forward.
And itB次元官网网址檚 an accomplishment that they are, for good reason, very proud of.
B次元官网网址淢aybe weB次元官网网址檙e so proud of it,B次元官网网址� says Natasha Kuzyk of Winnipeg, B次元官网网址渂ecause we do a lot of scholastic work here, and put so much time and effort mentally into school. But this is the first time, I think, for a lot of us, that weB次元官网网址檝e done physical work with our hands that we can say, B次元官网网址業 built this. With my hands. With other people.B次元官网网址� And now we can use it.B次元官网网址�
The team departs on their voyage March 9.
