Building a wooden canoe with Herman

Building a wooden canoe with Herman

September 11, 2019Canoe building, News 1 Comment "In my wooden canoe I am one with nature" As an experienced paddler, Herman Pardon built an exclusive Abenaki river canoe at Freeranger Canoe. "For years I have searched for a solid, authentic wooden canoe. Until I found Bart's shop. " "I got to know Freeranger Canoe at the Open Canoe Festival in Ossenzijl (NL)," [...]
Interview with Canoe Builder Bart Deseyn

Interview with Canoe Builder Bart Deseyn

June 13, 2019News 2 Comments How a passion became a life style We've had the honor to be featured on the artisans blog Labois. Enjoy the read! Wood is a surprising material, from which we often forget that it also floats. In the postindustrial era, where iron, plastic and fiberglass seem to have conquered all the waters -and markets-, a [...]
Canoeing with children

Canoeing with children

February 15, 2019Knowledge No Comments Canoeing with children If you enjoy the outdoors you probably had your first experiences with adventurous activities as a child. The love for outdoor sports is a great gift to pass on to your own children. Many parents go into the woods and mountains with their offspring, but canoeing with children is also great fun [...]
Learning to canoe

Learning to canoe

December 20, 2018Knowledge No Comments Learning to canoe pays off There is no such thing as a tippy canoe .... only tippy paddlers. Nobody ever says that a bike is unstable while a canoe is 20 times wider and it would be? OK, a bicycle enjoys the gyroscopic effect of the wheels, but that is a detail. Canoeing is just [...]
Buying a canoe

Buying a canoe

November 26, 2018Knowledge No Comments Buying a canoe, what is the best choice? Earlier we wrote a post about the design of the canoe and what to look for when choosing a canoe. However, there is more to it when buying a canoe. In this post we want to give you an overview of the materials canoes are made of [...]
Building a plywood canoe

Building a plywood canoe

November 12, 2018Canoe building 1 Comment Building a plywood canoe is child's play And so it came about that two little girls, Hanne & Leen, showed up at our shop one fine day and told us they wanted to build a plywood canoe. They gathered that building a plywood canoe was the ideal method for novice builders such as them. And [...]
Environmentally friendly wooden oars

Environmentally friendly wooden oars

November 5, 2018Paddle making No Comments Traditional wooden oars for Austria In recent weeks we have been busy making two traditional wooden oars for an Austrian customer. They are made from wind-dried European ash wood. This, in contrast to oven-dried wood, retains its natural flexibility. Flex is very important for wooden oars but also for canoe paddles. It gives a second [...]
Canoeing on the Meuse

Canoeing on the Meuse

September 21, 2018Paddling, Tips 3 Comments Canoeing on the Meuse Canoeing on the Meuse? Does not sound fascinating, and yet. In the northern French département de la Meuse, the river is not yet the channeled river that it becomes from the Belgian city of Namur. On the contrary, it is a particularly beautiful and natural water course that flows through a [...]
Workshop Greenland kayak paddle

Workshop Greenland kayak paddle

June 5, 2018Paddle making, Workshop reports No Comments Making a Greenland kayak paddle with Hans and Michaël Hans and Michaël are two experienced sea kayakkers with a special interest in Greenland style paddling and rolling. To practice their skills they both wanted to have a custom made Greenland kayak paddle.  Mass produced Greenland kayak paddles only come in a couple of sizes. Mostly [...]
10-day Wooden Canoe Building Course

10-day Wooden Canoe Building Course

April 30, 2018Canoe building, Workshop reports 3 Comments Wooden Canoe Building Course Our new Wooden Canoe Building Course is compacted in an intensive 10-day working period. If you want to learn to build a canoe in a condensed period because you don't have the time to spread it out over several months, this is the solution for you. Our first participant was Joonhwa [...]