Tumpline
From the pipe-smoking bunny company, of course.
Alouette, gentille, alouette! PHOTO: DEB TETZ
[ triPs ] [ CaNoes ]
The Hemp Canoe, Man I
MAD RIVER’S GREENEST CANOE EVER, THE MALECITE ECO
t’s easy to feel like nature’s own earth child while paddling a canoe. Tere’s no tailpipe
spewing greenhouse gases, no rainbow oil slick colouring your wake and, unless you leave it wrapped around a rock, a canoe is the furthest thing from disposable. In this age of comprehensive eco-audits,
outward appearances just don’t cut it. Even conscientious canoeists might pause to won- der how many volatile organic compounds are released while laying up composite hulls, whether clear cedar ribs come from sustain- able sources and just how many barrels of crude go into producing ABS hulls. Te designers and marketers at Mad River
Canoe have asked themselves these ques- tions, and designed a canoe that takes gra- nola-eating eco-awareness to a new high—a slightly different high than canoe builders get from toxic resins. Teir Malecite ECO concept boat uses lay-
ers of hemp burlap and linen sandwiched between fibreglass layers to achieve a hull form made from 70 per cent natural materi- als. Mad River claims that, as an alternative to fibreglass, it requires 40 per cent less en- ergy to turn the hemp plant into a weave to provide the same strength and rigidity in the hull. Te gel coat is made from a new corn- based resin that produces 50 per cent fewer volatile solvents while curing. Te seat pan- els are made from readily replenished and lo- cally available cane reed. Te hardwood trim comes from sources certified by the Sustain-
able Forestry Initiative and is treated with a non-petroleum, citrus-based tung oil. Mad River’s ECO is a singular achieve-
ment—they only built one model canoe. Mad River Canoe’s Project Manager, Buff Grubb, likens the ECO to a concept car, built to fur- ther research and development and explore the possibilities for production models.
the eCo concept boat uses layers of hemp burlap and linen.
Grubb says it will take time to settle on
the best materials for the hull weaves. In fact, with U.S. farmers needing permits to grow hemp, other fast-growing crops such as jute or kenaf may become the alternative materials of choice. Kenaf, used for interior automobile panels, is being commercially harvested near the Mad River Canoe factory in North Carolina. As a canoe for an eco-conscious age, Mad
River calls the exercise a “jumping off point to earnestly examine the most sustainable way to build a high performance canoe.” Tere is no release date for an ECO produc- tion model, but the innovations developed for this canoe are expected to find their way into different Mad River models in the next few years. —Ian Merringer
Like a Voyageur
THUNDER BAY TO MONTREAL
Picture yourself amongst a rollick- ing scene of 60 adventuresome souls boisterously singing Alouette as you trace an ancient fur trade route from Thunder Bay, Ontario, to Montreal, Quebec, by voyageur canoe. “Live how our country was settled,”
entices Brooke Martens, project man- ager of the David Thompson Brigade. Martens is recruiting enthusiastic par- ticipants for the 2010 Brigade, which is a continuation of the 2008 trip from Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, to Thunder Bay, Ontario. Starting in Thunder Bay, the 2010
David Thompson Brigade will launch into the waters of Lake Superior on July 10th following the north shore through to the St. Mary’s River, the North Channel of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. From the Great Lakes, the journey continues inland on the French, the Mattawa and the Ottawa rivers, striking land in Montreal. Over 46 days, the 2010 Brigade will
cover a distance of 1,720 kilometres following in the paddle strokes of the famous adventurer and surveyor David Thompson. “It’s a very strenu- ous adventure,” Martens explains. “However, in big canoes, sharing the effort is easy.”
voyageurbrigade.org. —April Link
www.canoerootsmag.com 15
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