Learning To Sing and Dance with our Canoe
Adirondack Canoe Symposium 2022
Michael Howard
Having enjoyed canoeing since childhood, my wife Susan and I thought we were competent canoeists; that is, until we discovered the magical mastery of FreeStyle canoeing. We now know we are novices in the science and art of FreeStyle canoeing, and yet, we feel we are setting out on a wonderful adventure.
For some 30 years, our family canoed lakes and flat-water rivers in a 17’ Mad River Explorer–nothing heroic, just a way to be together in the natural world. For the last 15 years, I have been building, rowing, and sailing small wooden boats. Sometime during the pandemic, I am not sure why, I took Bill Mason’s book, Song of the Paddle, from my bookshelf and began re-reading his descriptions of how to paddle a canoe. Intrigued to learn more about him, I soon discovered his many canoeing videos, as well as all manner of other canoe-related videos. I was soon awestruck by some of these videos as I saw canoes moving in ways I did not know canoes could move, and to music no less. Canoes were singing and dancing, but how?
As an artist, I was immediately gripped by this art of canoeing and learned it was called “FreeStyle canoeing”. I googled this term and found myself on the FreeStyle Canoeing website with its many informative articles, as well as announcements for events offering instruction in FreeStyle techniques. An upcoming event that was closest to our home in Amherst, MA, was to be held at Paul Smith’s College near Lake Placid from July 14-17, 2022.
I made the leap and contacted Robyn Lowenthal, the organizer of this event. Before I knew it, she had not only registered us with grace and efficiency, but in addition, she was helping us determine what size canoes we might rent for the event. Within days she connected us with colleagues who were prepared to transport their extra canoes for us to use. Through such generosity of interest and support, we felt integrated into this wonderful community of canoeists even before we had met anyone in person.
After five hours of driving through the mountains and forests of upper New York State, we were glad to enter the picturesque campus of Paul Smith’s College on the shore of Lower St. Regis Lake. The most striking sight that greeted us was a sea of canoes sitting on top of cars and trailers in a large parking lot. As we began to walk around to get our bearings, we soon came upon a large grassy lawn filled with some hundred more canoes of every imaginable size, shape and vintage. Had we entered canoe heaven? We soon learned that this cornucopia of canoes was due to three distinct but related canoe groups meeting concurrently. We were part of a group of about 50 canoeists participating in the Adirondack Canoe Symposium sponsored by the FreeStyle Canoeing Group. Perhaps two hundred or so people were part of the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association Assembly, and about 100 more were participating in the Adirondack Mountain Club Paddle Outing.
We meandered through canoe heaven to marvel at the unique beauty and craftsmanship of all these canoes. We were especially drawn to a tent full of some 20 canoes designed by David Yost and built by Tom Mackenzie. Even to our untrained eye there was something special about these canoes; they were works of art. Something stirred in our hearts: what would it be like to be stewards of one of these floating sculptures?
Back on earth, we found the registration table, whereupon Robyn began introducing us to instructors and fellow students and soon connected us with the two canoes we would use for the three days. That evening attendees from all three groups gathered in a large lecture hall to celebrate nothing other than the work of Tom Mackenzie. Words of appreciation were spoken, many stories told, as well as an hourlong video on Tom’s life and work that included numerous excerpts from an extensive interview with Tom himself. In a few short hours, through his canoes and the documentary film, we went from not knowing anything about Tom Mackenzie to feeling a personal kinship with him.
The next morning we all gathered at Church Pond, and after a brief overview and safety talk, we formed into pre-determined groups of 3-5 students according to our level of experience and interest. Susan was in the “Obedience Training for your Canoe” course and I was in the “FreeStyle Building Blocks” group, and there was a full range of courses for more advanced canoeists as well.
The highlight of the first morning was a demonstration by Becky Mason, the daughter of Bill Mason. It was a great pleasure to experience her lifelong love and mastery of canoeing, brought with such down-to-earth humor. The occasion had special meaning for us as it was Bill Mason’s book and video, Song of the Paddle–documenting a family canoe trip when Becky was a young girl–that had led us to FreeStyle canoeing and to this event.
The days were very full, with 2-3 hour sessions on the water with our very patient and supportive instructors initiating us into the subtleties of taming our canoes. The teacher/student ratio meant we were in effect receiving individualized attention, and it was watching them demonstrate a maneuver that allowed us, sooner or later, to discover the right “feel” between our paddle, canoe and water. Although our class groups stayed together through the weekend, our instructors changed with each session. Experiencing their different ways of doing various techniques was very helpful for us in finding our own way. FreeStyle canoeing seems to have both the rigor and objectivity of a science as well as the purpose of leading each individual to the creative freedom of an art.
On the second evening, about half of us sat by the shore of Lower St Regis Lake to watch the other half paddle some 50 canoes for the Paddle-By and Salute organized by the Wooden Canoe Heritage Association. For over an hour, whether ashore or afloat, we all celebrated the diverse beauty of the canoe.
Our final evening found us back at Church Pond for an exhibition of solo and tandem FreeStyle canoeing accompanied by music. As dusk slowly descended, our instructors shared what they had been working on to extend their technical and artistic mastery of canoeing. Some of the very individuals I had first seen performing on YouTube were now performing before me in real time. Now I was able to more fully appreciate the time and effort they had given to attain such mastery.
Besides the canoes we had on loan, we were able to try other canoes, and everyone was more than ready to advise us about what kind of canoe we should look for. We had already discovered that the specialized nature of FreeStyle canoes meant they are not easily found among the standard fare of new and used canoes. When one of the instructors asked me the last day if I knew which canoe I wanted, I replied that I was clearer about what I was looking for but had no sense of how to make it happen.
A couple of days after returning home, Susan was surfing, or was it paddling, the internet looking up “Flashfires” and Wildfires” when she found herself in a world of canoeing enthusiasts asking and answering anything and everything related to canoes. Someone called “yellowcanoe” announced that she had a 15’ Bell Starfire for sale, and perhaps she was even ready to sell her Tom Mackenzie Duet. With our interest piqued, we were dumbfounded to read that “yellowcanoe” lived in Raymond, Maine–the very village where we have our own family cottage on Panther Pond.
In making contact, we learned that “yellowcanoe” was Kim Gass, a well known FreeStyle and Canadian style canoe instructor, who with her husband Jim, lived on Crescent Lake, the next lake over from where we would be going in a couple of weeks. Kim sent us photos of both canoes, but the spruce and cedar interior and beech thwarts and gunwales of the Mackenzie Duet immediately pulled at our heartstrings. Like everyone else in the world of FreeStyle canoeing, Kim and Jim were very generous and let us borrow both canoes for a few days so we could try them out for both solo and tandem use. In the end it was no contest as our hearts were set on the Duet. We soon knew we made the right choice as we rediscovered the joys of tandem canoeing through two short day trips on nearby streams.
It is hard to believe that in a matter of weeks, we went from knowing almost nothing about the FreeStyle canoeing community to feeling quite at home within it. We feel gratitude to all who have welcomed us into their midst and opened us to the joys of learning to sing and dance with our canoe.
Photo credits: Kirianna Howard, Michael Howard, Sue Hutchins, Bruce Kemp. THANK YOU!!!