Class Descriptions

Island Tour by Birch Bark and Dugout Canoe - Project Lakewell


Explore Drummond Island the same way it was done 200 years ago; in traditional hand crafted birch bark canoes. Experienced and knowledgeable, the Project Lakewell crew will lead half day expeditions in the waters surrounding the island. If you are a canoe enthusiast, a history buff, an adventurer or want to experience the magic of a 24’ birch bark canoe and dugout canoes on big waters this is truly a rare opportunity you won’t want to miss. If you intend to take this trip please bring a life jacket and a paddle if you have one since our supplies our limited.

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Old Time Sailing in a New Haven Sharpie - Hugh Covert


Experience traditional sailing on the Great Lakes as it was done long ago with an expert Great Lakes ecologist and passionate maritime arts master. The Gypsy M. (pictured at right) is a 1870 era replica 40 foot gaff-rigged New Haven Sharpie built by Hugh himself using 25 species of midwestern trees that he cut and sawed. Hugh is offering 2-hour guided outings aboard the Gypsy M. that will immerse (not a pun...) you in northern Lake Huron limnology, geography, wooden ship lore, and old time close-to-the-water sailing.

This is an Outing that requires pre-registration and pre-payment of the $30 fee before the event registration deadline. Since the Gypsy M. will accommodate only 6 people per outing, space is limited... so register early

Building the Spruce Bark Canoe - Ferdy Goode


Spruce bark canoes are an expedient craft that can be built quickly compared to birch bark canoes. Often built in a day, historical accounts mention “heavy bark” canoes of spruce, elm and other species’ bark being built when and where needed - sometimes they were even discarded after serving a purpose like ferrying people and supplies across a river or lake. Back by popular demand, Ferdy will be building a functional spruce bark canoe onsite. He will first take us on an outing to peel a huge sheet of bark from a spruce tree. WIth the bark back onsite, Ferdy will supervise the process of turning the sheet of bark into a beautiful and functional craft that we will launch and paddle in Warners Cove. This will be an ongoing project until the canoe is in the water, so feel free to join the building crew or just observe at any time!

Canoe Poling - Roger LaBine


Warners Cove is the perfect location for learning and practicing the art of poling a canoe. Poling, or pushing the canoe with a long pole while standing in the canoe, is a technique that is used when paddling can not supply enough power to keep the boat moving. Poling enables movement in the heavy vegetation of the rice beds for harvesting manoomin, and is also often used when traveling upstream in faster rivers and streams -  poling upstream is often called “setting” in historic accounts. Roger will show how to make the push-pole and how to use it effectively in many situations.