The Muskoka Paddle Club will be paddling in a piece of history thanks to a recent donation.
On Friday, the club was presented with a handmade artisan canoe outside its new storage unit in Kerr Park in Bracebridge, from local craftsman Craig Barrett.
When Barrett retired from book publishing, he took up boat building as a hobby. After building his 45th boat, which was a special historic canoe design, he decided to pass it along to the paddling club.
Barrett says the canoe is based on a design created by a historic Scottish explorer named John MacGregor in the late 1800’s. The design allows for one person to pilot the boat either using a canoe or kayak paddle.
Club Commodore Sandy Schofield says he looks forward to having members use this new addition.
Later in the evening, Schofield was presented with two kayaks and two canoes from the Sudbury Canoe Club. Schofield says these boats will be utilized as training vessels for the Sprint Training Program.
The Paddle Club will be holding an open house on Sunday at Kelvin Grove Park between 11:00am and 1:00pm to display these new additions.
