Patience, passion passed on
Grandfather, grandson build 17.5-foot cedar canoe together
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This article was published 08/10/2021 (1549 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
They say that patience is a virtue.
Transcona’s James Neufeld has learned that it’s also a requirement for building a canoe by hand.
“Patience is probably the biggest lesson I’ve taken from this,” Neufeld said. “If there’s anything my grandpa has, it’s patience. He definitely had the patience to sit there and watch the glue dry on his last canoe. So having that patience to do it and the courage to start a project like this was a big thing.”
Before retiring, Neufeld’s grandfather John worked at Woodland Supply for years, squirrelling away a massive collection of quality lumber in his Whitehall Boulevard garage in the process. A passionate woodworker, building a canoe was something he’d thought about doing for years.
When he picked up Canoecraft by Ted Moores and Merilyn Mohr from the local library, he decided to go for it.
“That was it, the inspiration,” John said. “I just wanted to give it a try. That alone is something to do.”
In 1997, Neufeld’s grandfather John Neufeld set out to build a 17.5-foot cedar canoe by hand in his garage in Transcona. On Sept. 24, 2000, he successfully launched the vessel in the family’s backyard pool, to the delight of family and friends. Hearing tales of the build over the years and seeing the final product on the water inspired Neufeld to try to do it himself, 20 years later.
“The canoe that he made is now in Ottawa, my uncle uses it, he’s an avid paddler,” Neufeld said. “Ever since I saw that, I wanted to do it.”
Growing up, Neufeld spent plenty of time in his grandfather’s shop.
“I’ve had a lot of projects with my grandpa over the years,” Neufeld explained. “The garage always looked like this, there was always cutoffs for me to do this or that with. He’s been there all the way through, showing me how to do everything.”
A couple years ago, after graduating from nearby Collège Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau, Neufeld, who is now taking civil engineering at the University of Manitoba, started planning on building his own canoe. After researching and planning for nearly two years, Neufeld started and his grandfather started working on the new canoe in May.
“It’s one of the ultimate tasks as a woodworker,” Neufeld said. “Grandpa’s not going to be here forever, and I’m going to wish that when I built a canoe, it was with him. So I better just do it.”
At 17.5-feet in length, the handcrafted vessel is made of hundreds of pieces of bead and cove cedar, painstakingly glued together without the use of staples.
“My grandpa back in 1997 wasn’t happy with having staple holes in the canoe,” Neufeld explained. “If you’re making a canoe, it’s fine to have it full of staple holes. But if you’re making a piece of art…”
“Look at any tree, and try imagining that you want to make a strip that starts here and goes to the other end with no knots, no defects,” John added. “How many are you gonna get and how long is it gonna take?”
“To put it together without the staples or nails, back in the day my grandpa came up with this system,” Neufeld continued. “He’s got straps there made of bicycle inner tubes holding it together.
“Actually, a friend from work suggested it,” John added. “He was instrumental, because it worked out quite well.”
Now that the hull has been built and epoxied and school is back in session, Neufeld said he expects to spend the winter finishing up the interior of the canoe.
“I can just come into the garage and pick away at it here and there, even if it’s -25, that’s fine,” he said, adding he hopes to launch the canoe in the spring of 2022.
While the final result will be something he cherishes for decades, Neufeld added that the experience itself has been invaluable.
“The canoe he built was probably one of his greatest projects, and the fact that he’s sharing that with me is very big for me,” he said. “Very special. It’s something that can be in my family for hopefully 100 years.”
“We’ll be talking about this project for a while,” John added, with a smile.
Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist
Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112
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Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Sheldon Birnie
Community Journalist
Sheldon Birnie is a reporter/photographer for the Free Press Community Review. The author of Missing Like Teeth: An Oral History of Winnipeg Underground Rock (1990-2001), his writing has appeared in journals and online platforms across Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. A husband and father of two young children, Sheldon enjoys playing guitar and rec hockey when he can find the time. Email him at sheldon.birnie@freepress.mb.ca Call him at 204-697-7112
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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