Saugeen Paddlers Voyageur Canoe Race

North Canoes are 26 feet long and crewed by either six or eight paddlers. They are replicas of canoes used by the North West Company, transporting furs from the interior to rendezvous points such as Fort William. At Rendezvous, their cargoes of fur were transferred to Montreal Canoes, 34 feet long, for the 54-day shipment east to Montreal.

The North Canoes in turn, would take the goods from the east to the interior for trade. Teams participate in games of skill — some traditional, some with a little more modern influence, and they race in North Canoes.

Kayaking is the most popular form of paddling, increasing from 3 percent of Americans participating in 2010 to 4.4 percent in 2014. While the less popular forms of sea/tour kayaking and whitewater kayaking made marginal gains in participation in 2014, recreational kayaking remained stagnant. Still, recreational kayaking is, by far, the most popular type of kayaking.