Canoe for a cause
By Juli Stevenson, Executive Director, Clay Tree Society
About a year ago, Hans Ebeling, past president and active advocate for Clay Tree Society in Nanaimo, approached the Arbutus Program to see if we would be interested in building a cedar strip canoe from the ground up. We got a pretty good response from a number of core participants so it was settled.
Clay Tree Society has supported individuals with developmental disabilities in the Nanaimo area for fifty three years. The Arbutus Program is one of Clay Tree’s seven programs.
The first thing that needed to be done was to build a boat mould. When the mould was finally done, some people felt that they had already built a canoe but Hans was quick to point out that all good things take time and patience.
Each week, a few cedar strips were glued and applied with clamps. It was a slow process but we were able to appreciate the beauty of each step. Slowly but surely the canoe started to take shape.
When the shell of the canoe was completed, everyone looked at our accomplishment in amazement. More time was spent on laying the fibreglass and epoxy. In between each application of fibreglass and epoxy, there was sanding.
Dan Bateman drilled all the holes for the woven seats. Terry and Wayne were responsible for many important components involved with the canoe.
Finally, over a year later, this magnificent canoe made of cedar and mahogany is now ready for its maiden voyage. The plan all along has been to raffle the canoe off. The tickets are on sale now until July. Now that our vision has become a reality, it will be hard to let this work of art go.
We are ready for someone to appreciate this masterpiece as much as we do and are ready to take on our next endeavour, whatever it may be, because we know that we can do anything we put our minds to.
We would like to thank Hans Ebeling. If it was not for his vision, we would have never had this experience.
