CANOE PEOPLE of 2010


HARD TO SWALLOW: Wolf crusades for environmental protection


in Canada’s north. PHOTO: FRANK WOLF


T h e B u i l d e r


Bob Hellman 51 C


NELSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA YEARS CANOEING: 40


anada’s modern era rode in on the wake of great voyageur canoes that travelled


to the untouched interior of North America. These heavy vessels, capable of carrying up to 20 passengers and 1,400 kilograms of gear, were perfect on the water, but a burden to portage. Bob Hellman aims to change that. Hell-


man Canoes claims to have created the lightest voyageur canoe, ever. At 81.6 kilograms in fibreglass and 68 kilo-


grams in Kevlar, Hellman’s 7.6-metre, 10-pas- senger voyageur canoe weighs 36 kilograms less than any other boat of similar size. Hellman attributes the design to modern


Borealis, the story of Wolf and partner Taku


T h e E n v i r o n m e n t a l A d v o c a t e


Frank Wolf 39


NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA YEARS CANOEING: 39


F 42


rank Wolf has come a long way since 1995, when he and a partner canoed 8,000 kilometres from Saint John, New Brunswick to Vancouver, British


Columbia, completing the first-ever single-sea- son cross-Canada journey. He’s still obsessed with canoe tripping, but the North Vancouver- based filmmaker and regular Canoeroots con- tributor has become a bona fide eco-crusader. A 3,100-kilometre-long canoe trip in 2007


from Winnipeg, Manitoba to his family cot- tage on Georgian Bay bolstered Wolf’s career as a filmmaker and environmental activist.


EARLY SUMMER 2010


Hokoyama’s expedition, won top honours at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival and was a favourite at the Reel Pad- dling Film Festival. The film is about more than just a canoe trip. Wolf engaged locals to explore the value of protecting the boreal for- est and the threats it faces from logging, min- ing and hydroelectric development. Wolf prides himself on eschewing bushplane


flights and travelling self-propelled whenever possible. Last summer, he and Hokoyama put- in at Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and canoed 2,000 kilometres across the tundra to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Mammalian, the cin- ematic result of their journey into the largest intact wilderness area in North America, will be released later this year. This summer, Wolf plans to hike the pro-


posed 1,175-kilometre-long pipeline route from northern Alberta to the British Colum- bia coast. “I believe in fighting the good fight,” says Wolf


of his ideals. “This is something that I believe in and that keeps me going.” —Conor Mihell


voyageur legend Norman Crerar, the win- ning captain of the 1967 cross-Canada Cen- tennial Voyageur Canoe Pageant and author of Journals of the New Voyageurs. “Norman has been building boats and


promoting voyageur canoeing for years,” explains Hellman, “and he wanted to see if we could build something really light. Plus he wanted to get out of the canoe-building business.” Crerar offered Hellman his voyageur ca-


noe moulds and a 66-passenger school bus from a 2007 cross-Canada voyageur event, in exchange for the lightest voyageur canoe ever built. “Living in a hippy town like Nelson, I knew


we could easily sell a camperized school bus,” laughs Hellman. “So we went for it.” “We built a whole boat with very high


quality material, epoxy resins, foam core, and a special type of fibreglass used in all high-stress points in yachts. We made Nor- man a boat that is bomb-proof, but so light that two people can pick it up, probably even run with it if they wanted.” Hellman’s voyageur canoes are expected


to rejuvenate interest in the sport by mak- ing its least pleasant aspect—the portage—a breeze. —Dave Quinn


PHOTO: COLLEEN HELMAN


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