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Canoe By Canada is a Sea-to-Sea Journey from Lachine, Quebec through the very heart of the country, ending at Tuktoyuktuk, Northwest Territories. The route follows the historic Alexander Mackenzie Voyageur route from Montreal to the Arctic Ocean.
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The journey was conceived by Erin McKnight a 23 year old Mississauga resident. Erin's first taste of wilderness was at an Ontario summer camp when she was seven years old. After spending several summers at camp she participated in the Bark Lake Leadership Program and an Outward Bound course. |
Erin has been accompanied by a number of women on each leg of the journey. In the first year she was accompanied by Marie Roberts from Lachine Quebec to Thunder Bay. Marie was forced to leave the expedition early due to a personal emergency, and Erin completed the first year alone.
Alison Pick joined her for the entire second season's paddle. Finally this year, Maura Sullivan will be with Erin until September, and Pam Lewis will complete the last leg of the journey from September to the end.
You can read more about each member through the Team Profiles |
The major objective of this cross Canada odyssey is to raise awareness of mental health. According to the Canadian Mental Health Association one in four Canadians suffer from serious depression at some point in their lives. Erin chose this cause because her mother was manic depressive (bi-polar) and took her own life when Erin was eight years old. "At the time of my mother's death, mental illness was not as well understood as it is today, but stigma and ignorance remain the two greatest barriers that prevent people from receiving help. It is our goal to increase people's knowledge about mental illness and erase the stigma that still surrounds them", says Erin.
On April 25, 1998 Marie Roberts and Erin McKnight began their 9.000km paddle across Canada from Lachine, Quebec near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. The first seasons paddle lasted three months, and they covered 3,000km reaching Thunder Bay on Lake Superior.
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Unfortunately, Marie had to leave the expedition at Marathon and Erin pushed on the last twenty days alone. This phase of the journey was along the remote, rugged coast of Lake Superior. Here Erin suffered a broken foot, and was windbound for several days. The second year began in Thunder Bay on May 18, 1999. Erin and Alison quickly reached the longest portage of the trip; the 14km Grand Portage. They then paddled the boundary waters between Ontario and Minnesota. From there they voyaged north-west into the Lake-Of-The- Woods, through Lake Winnipeg and arrived in The Pas, Manitoba in mid summer. It was during this phase that the team experienced a prolonged period of severe rain that not only slowed down the expedition but also damaged some of the electronics stopping the transmissions to the website. They then flew to Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca and paddled for two more months in a south-east direction (so they did not have to fight the current) through Wollaston Lake, Reindeer Lake, and numerous rivers and tributaries, arriving back in The Pas in mid-September. Finally, this year in the summer of 2000 they will complete the journey to the town of Tuktoyaktuk on the shores of the Beaufort sea, in all a journey of 9000km. The team departed on June 1, 2000. |
The backbone of the technology is a Mitsubishi Omniquest Satellite transceiver that allows voice and data access to the outside world. A Sony VAIO notebook computer (PCG 505TS) allows the upload of text and pictures to the website. The digital pictures are taken on a Canon A5 powershot. A 24W solar panel allows charging of these devices while in the wilderness.
This trip has been made possible by the generous help of the sponsors listed below. More continue to join. If your company would like to participate in this endeavour please contact us.
You can directly email the webmaster
clicking hereIf you wish to post a message to Erin, or to the guestbook, Click Here