So the Grays created a wood and canvas structured canoe that would be quicker to build and way easier to maintain. They hired a few log drivers who had boat building expertise and they created the ...

“So you’re starting to see what I mean about all the sanding?” says Ron Pellinen, my wooden canoe-building mentor, when I walk into his shop on a brisk March morning in Northern Ontario.

Birchbark canoes stayed in use into the early 20 th century. The wood/canvas canoe would eventually ease the birchbark canoe out, but like the birchbark canoe, it required occasional repairs when ...