This photo of me and my son Doug was taken on the Petawawa River in Algonquin Park last October by British filmmaker Justine Curgenven. She had called me six months before asking if Canoeroots and Family Camping would like to be involved in her latest project—an unnamed canoeing DVD featuring the who’s who of modern canoeing.
She’d filmed the Mountain river in the Northwest Territories with Wendy Grater; waterfalls on the Moose river in New york State; Becky Mason at home in Gatineau Park; on trip with Birchbark Man, Erik Simula (on this issue’s cover); and in Wausau, Wisconsin, for the Open Canoe Slalom Nationals with John Kazimierczyk, who won his 100th gold medal.
The list was an award-winning cross-section of canoeing, a cross-section Paul Mason later called, This is Canoeing—which soon became the title of the two-DVD box set.
Is this really canoeing?
I’ve spent half of my life paddling through these niche communities of expeditions, instruction, whitewater slalom, waterfalls freestyle canoeing. It wasn’t until Doug was born that I truly understood what really is canoeing, or at least where it begins.
And so I presented an awkward pitch that went something like this. “Justine, you’re sort of missing the biggest piece of canoeing; you’re missing the family canoe trip. Why don’t you make a film about me?” Not exactly humble. Not exactly about me either.
Canoe sales have been flat for almost a decade. Some blame the popularity of kayaks. Other reports indicate that as a society we are spending more time connecting with WiFi than we are with the outdoors.
I believe canoe sales have fallen simply because guys like me waited 10 years until our thirties to have children. Until you walk out of the delivery room you can mountain bike, climb and kayak. But only a canoe will carry into the backcountry a eureka Bonavista family tent, a Graco Pack’N Play and a safari of stuffed animals.
Curgenven’s Dougie Down the Pet has since won Best Professional Documentary at the National Paddling Film Festival and Best Canoeing Film at our reel Paddling Film Festival.
“Seeing the journey though a young boy’s eyes reminds us all of the simple joys of adventure and the thrill of spending time in the natural world,” says Curgenven. “I am convinced that if all parents introduced their kids to the great outdoors at such a young age the world would be a better place in 20 years time.”
The Outdoor Industry Association reports that 75 per cent of the time parents are the number one influence—they introduce children age six to 12 to outdoor activities. That’s great, but what influences parents?
For some it may be Curgenven’s award-winning film. For me it’s the dream of someday paddling northern rivers, waterfalls and birch-bark canoes with my adult children. I know for that dream to come true I need to invest in the future today.
Scott MacGregor is the publisher of Canoeroots magazine.
This article first appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of Canoeroots Magazine. For more great content, subscribe to Canoeroots’ print and digital editions here.
