We are Celine and Gerry, the Canadian Voyageurs. We are crossing this great land of ours by
canoe – a tremendous undertaking.
We are more than just nature lovers, we are environmental
ambassadors – our lifestyle is unconventional – we live off grid in the
remote wilderness, we grow our own garden - we lead a very simple and natural
life. We have spent a great deal of our
lives exploring Canada’s spectacular wilderness. While traveling this great country, we marveled
at its immenseness and absolutely stunning beauty. We've also seen some things that concern us.
A few months ago, we came across a very disturbing piece of
information: “Canada is now ranked last in environmental
protection. (Globe and Mail, November 08, 2013)”. This is unacceptable, we are
proud Canadians and we need to get the word out and get other citizens involved. Our natural resources belong to all of us and
if government won’t do it, then it’s up to us to protect them.
We were inspired by others who have crossed Canada in the past
to raise awareness for various causes.
We are crossing Canada by canoe filming our experience. We are also making a photo journal of our
expedition. We fell in love with nature
watching people like Bill Mason, Jacques Cousteau, and David Suzuki share their
passion on film.
Preparing for the long journey:
The big voyage begins in the spring of 2015 – with many
mini-excursions planned this summer. This
year, it’s all about planning and promoting – and planning and promoting.
One of the first things we discovered when researching this idea was that there were other groups that have done this voyage before us; each
journey unique, done for its own reasons and faced its own challenges. There are many different routes to explore; Canada
is a canoeist's paradise. We are still
debating whether we are leaving from Vancouver or 100 Mile House, in beautiful
British Columbia. We are leaning towards Vancouver which means undertaking a 51
kilometer (31.7 miles) portage over the Rocky Mountains. We will travel down rivers mostly with the
currents, there are a few rivers however where we will have to paddle against
the current: the Winnipeg River and the North Saskatchewan River are two of these. We will cross numerous lakes including the
largest lake on earth, Lake Superior. Our journey will take us across all the
provinces, from one coast to the other, ending up in Moncton N.B. We have never been to Canada’s east coast, so
this part of the voyage will be especially exciting for us – exploring the
unseen…. The entire expedition covers
over 7000km of paddling and over 300 kilometers of portaging our gear and canoe. Details about the expedition are being worked out daily and updates are posted on our website – see link
below.
We have connected with members from other groups who have undertaken this
journey in the past – it’s great to be able to share route and contact
information. We are gaining valuable
information from learning of others’ experiences. Did you know that in 1967 during the Expo 67
– 10 teams – raced across Canada by Voyageurs Canoe? We’ve linked the video on our site. Love that
8mm film sound running in the background.
Gathering gear and getting supplies
The outcome of any voyage often greatly depends on the time,
thought and effort you put into preparing for it – before you leave. We both
have Advanced Wilderness First Aid certifications – we are all about
preparation and safety. For us this is
journey, not a race – it’s about documenting nature and sharing the experience
with others.
We are used to traveling for long periods of time; we have
even lived out of backpacks for 189 days straight. Good gear is not only something you want it’s
something you: need and must have.
One of the most important pieces of equipment, the one that
can make us and break us is our canoe, of course. It took us about three weeks to shop around
the internet and find the best canoe at the best price (delivered or picked up)
for us. We chose the Dumoine Composite
by Swift. Here we are at the factory to
pick it up – it was a 15 hour round trip drive to South River, Ontario:
We have not had the chance to try out this gorgeous canoe –
the thaw is very late in coming, there is still ice on the lake at the time of
this writing. She sure is a beauty,
isn’t she! This Kevlar composite canoe
has matching reinforced bumpers as an extra option for white water, it weighs
58 pounds – not bad for a 16 feet 8 inch canoe!
We will be renting advertising space on the canoe to our sponsors to
help us with some of the costs of the voyage.
You can find more details about our gear in other posts on
our website. Here is a quick rundown of
what we already had, what we’ve purchased and what we still need to get.
Have already: Osprey backpacks, Big Agnes 2 man ultralight
backpacking tent, Pic 10 waterproof video camera, Kodak Sport waterproof video
camera, Canon Rebel i3eos camera/vid, MSR dragonfly stoves, air mattresses,
Katadyn water filter, bucksaw, sleeping bags, solar panel for charging
batteries, Spot Beacon locator, first aid kit, dry bags, cook sets, lifejacket
for Pompom the navigator, tarps (of course), +
Also recently acquired: GoPro Hero3 waterproof video camera,
wooden canoe paddles, life jackets, rain jackets, water shoes/sandals, 30
L food drum with harness, 12 volt mini
battery for solar charging, Hap Wilson’s Missinaibi river guide book, Kevin
Callan – Top 50 canoe routes of Ontario, +
Have yet to get: canoe cover (this is something we really
feel we will need) would like a couple more GoPro’s, memory cards, batteries,
satellite communications such as Spot Connect or InReach, maps or topo for GPS
units, banner for the canoe, +
Getting the word out
We feel more at home in front of a campfire than in front of
a computer. Getting the word out is part
of our daily routine these days. The
more people we reach – the bigger the impact we can make. Share these links with your friends:
We’ve opened a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Canadianvoyageurs2015
We’re also tweeting on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CanadianVoyage
I’ve opened a temporary free website http://celinegerry.wix.com/canadianvoyageurs,
my latest challenge and what I am currently working on, while the ice melts, is
building our own Canadian Voyageurs dot com.
We’ll have that up and running in a few weeks. We’ll be putting a nice
big banner on the canoe.
Why we are doing this and why we need your help!
We are doing this for many reasons: First because we can, our lifestyle and life
experiences have prepared us to be able to do this journey. It’s not everybody who can take six months to
cross Canada to raise awareness for a cause.
We are not motivated by money. It
is health that is real wealth and living in harmony with nature will help you
achieve that. For us it’s about
protecting our natural resources for our children, for yours and future
generations. It makes so much more sense
to prevent environmental damage than to try and clean it up. This is about raising awareness and getting
others involved. We know this won’t be
easy, but for us it’s a labor of love.
By documenting this cross country journey on film and in photographs will
be able to capture Canada’s awesome beauty and allow others to see it, fall in
love with it and help us protect it.
Visit our Facebook, Twitter and websites to get more information –
please help us get the word out!
Happy Trails!
