If you see a large grinning sea wolf atop an 8 foot neck bearing down upon your kayak, don't panic. It's not a sea serpent. It's a freighter style  Canoe, the largest to be built on the west coast in over 100 years.

This canoe is the fulfillment of a long-time dream of ours: to build a canoe which follows traditional "Nuu-Chah-Nulth" lines  and use it to carry groups of First Nations people comfortably on wilderness camping excursions along the east and west coasts of Vancouver Island

Upwards of 3,500 hours were spent researching and building this unique vessel and carving her paddles. Completed in May of 1991, the Qaanas is 47 feet in length with an 8 foot beam. Capable of accommodating 22 adults, our vessel is presently the largest touring canoe of its kind in North America.  For construction photos and details. Click!

Before launching, the Nanaimo Indian Band blessed our canoe and bestowed upon her the name "Qaanas" or "Whale" in the Salish language. Subsequent sea trials have shown her to be worthy of her name. Sporting a cedar strip hull, tan bark coloured sails and the traditional wolf carving atop her high prow, the Qaanas is an unforgettable link with her native past.

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On our maiden voyage out of Nanaimo en route to Sechelt on the BC mainland in the "Save Georgia Strait Marathon" we encountered a pod of orcas. This was a good omen for the many fun voyages which have followed (and our first stability test as well). It was a nice sight to see our Sea-Wolf figure head follow the Orca "to land" (Nuu Chah Nulth  legend believes that the Killer Whale will come to the rescue of the Sea-Wolf when in trouble- hence the figurehead on all their canoes)..

 

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Few people are familiar with traditional native sea-going canoes, and fewer still have paddled or sailed in them. The common response is, "there goes an interesting Viking boat". Even as late as the 19th century, as many as 10,000 of these canoes were in existence - enough for every native on the coast at that time to be afloat at one time.

They were the pride and wealth of the native people, much like the cars we worship and depend on today. And what made them all possible was the cedar tree, growing to more than 300 feet high along our West  Coast, trees which still today are higher than any buildings on Vancouver Island!

What many people also do not realize is that Pacific North West Coast Aboriginal people's canoes (and paddles) , like our cars and their accessories, were extremely varied, reflecting local needs, sea conditions, and of course, local talents.

From the Haida canoes, to the north to the Salish and Nuu Chah Nulth canoes of the south, they reflected the prosperity, and ingenuity of their makers as well as their close dependence on the oceans for their existence. The above picture shows a gathering of these canoes in Victoria's Inner Harbour for the Commonwealth Games in 1994 (with our canoe on the right).

These pictures show some of the canoe styles and ceremonial events evident on Vancouver Island today - a sign of the cultural renewal sweeping First Nations today.

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The design of the Nuu-chah-nulth Canoe which is the "canoe of choice" on the West Coast of Vancouver island, was so well evolved and copied so faithfully by native builders, that the last such canoe built in 1945, was almost indistinguishable from those described by Captain Cook in the late 18th century, on his first encounter with the native peoples here.

Some of these West Coast dugouts were gigantic in size, hewed from the many giant cedar trees then standing. While the whaling canoes seldom exceeded 35 feet, a large freighter canoe might achieve a length of 70 feet (with 40 to 60 feet being most common) and if stretched to its water-soaked limit, achieve a width no greater than 1/7 its length.

The Nuu-Chah-Nulth canoe is possibly even more seaworthy than the more widely known Haida canoe (from the Queen Charlotte Islands) because the seas they faced were every bit as rough. The high upturned prow and stern of the Nuu Chah Nulth canoes are designed to enable these vessels to face forward on a beach so as to be able to back out through the breakers. Their flatter bottom allows for easy beaching and loading. But what is especially distinctive about these canoes is that their sides flare out about 30 degrees for much of their length, giving them exceptional stability as they pitch in oceanic swells.

The coast Indians excelled in seamanship. Reports by whites aboard schooners note meeting canoes as far as 40 miles offshore, sometimes with sealskin bladders to prevent floundering. Their range was extended greatly by the use of sails. Records show that the natives used sail power from earliest contact and with the wind on their tail, accomplished some formidable journeys even by today's standards.

Chief Charles Jones, for example, told anthropologist Eugene Arima of his father's trip in a freight canoe from Port Renfrew off the coast of Vancouver Island, to Seattle, a distance of 155 miles in a single day, using two sails. The average speed of these canoes was 6 to 7 knots, considerably faster than the 4 to 5 knot speeds attained by Captain Cook and his contemporaries.

True to her forebears, our canoe also has this sailing capability. Her two historically accurate sprit sails allow her to sail remarkably well for a vessel with no keel. The advantage of sprit sails of course is that there is no boom to knock you on the head, and the sails and the sprit (the pole which holds out the peak of the sail) can be rolled up quickly against the mast when not needed.

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The Qaanas differs from the traditional canoe in that she is built of full-length cedar strips instead of a hollowed log (See Building Our Canoe) This results in a beamier and lighter boat, which enhances her speed, stability and sailing performance. She also has a rudder, marine radio and inflatable for safe ocean touring.

On most of our trips we motor, using paddles and sails when we are in shallows or wish to approach wildlife in silence. With a top speed of 15 knots, our cruising range is considerable.  The following picture shows the Qaanas at full speed without her sails.

As the builder of this vessel and the tour operator for Blackfish Wilderness Expeditions, I hope to appeal to those romantics and adventurers who love to go to sea in such wooden boats.

 

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