Ontario Solo Canoe Rendezvous - June 19-21, 2026

[Murat V]

Wanted to notify everyone of a multi-day canoe event taking place in Peterborough, Ontario:

Ontario Solo Canoe Rendezvous
Peterborough, ON
June 19th - 21st, 2026



There will be a variety of outdoor vendors selling tripping gear, solo canoe designs to try, paddling clinics as well as a series of presentations. Registration gives you discount code to use at two nearby hotels or allows for heavily discounted rates at two large group campsites (tent only). Registrants will also get discounted entry rates to the Canadian Canoe Museum including for a guided tour of the museum's storage facility on Friday.

More details and registration at this link:
https://www.orcka.ca/events-coming#oscr

 

[recped]

The link didn't work for me but this one should

Coming Events — ORCKA | Ontario Recreational Canoe & Kayak Association

www.orcka.ca

 

[Robin]

Murat, Thanks for the heads up about this event, I just registered and plan to camp Friday and Saturday nights. When I saw they will have some Wooden Canoe Heritage Association folks there from the local WCHA chapter canvassing a 14’ wood canvas canoe, well, it really piqued my interest.
Hopefully I be headed out to NW Ontario for some camping and fishing after this event.

If anyone else plans to attend, look me up, I’ll be in my white canvas Campfire tent and paddling a green solo wood canvas 14’ Chestnut Fox.

 

[Murat V]

Robin that is outstanding news! I've been helping co-ordinate the event on behalf of the local WCHA chapter. We're expecting a decent turnout of members and wooden canoe folks. Some folks from the 3 Rivers Chapter in Ohio/Penn are also coming up for the event. I'll also be camping there and will keep an eye out for your tent. Looking forward to finally meeting you in person and seeing all your traditional gear! I'll be bringing my 14' Chestnut Playmate and would be very interested to compare to your Fox.

Bill Mason's daughter, Becky will be there and his son-in-law, Reid MacLachlan will be doing a presentation on the Friday evening. Be happy to introduce you. You're also most welcome to help with the canvassing on the Saturday. We're going to have setup some outdoor rig in the park but it should be fun.

Weather permitting, back on Saturday evening at the campsite, I'll be setting up an outdoor projector and have a presentation about Chestnut Canoes. Will be discussing the various iterations of their decal over the years, including a recent discovery of the very first Chestnut logo (very different) along with archival photos recently released from the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick.

 

[Benson Gray]

a presentation about Chestnut Canoes.

Do you plan to make this information available on the web to people who can't attend in person?

Benson

 

[Murat V]

Hi Benson. My plan is to prepare a separate video later in the summer and post. That way I can directly screen record the slideshow and have proper audio quality. Something similar to the video I sent into the Virtual WCHA Assembly that happened back in Covid.

 

[memaquay]

Just googled the drive....12 hours from G-Town. If it had been the following weekend, I would have been off work, dang it. Sounds like a great time!

 

[Robin]

Looking forward to finally meeting you in person and seeing all your traditional gear! I'll be bringing my 14' Chestnut Playmate and would be very interested to compare to your Fox.

Yes, same here, looking forward to meeting you and seeing some of your gear/canoe. I have never canvassed a canoe outside without permanent anchor points like I had in my previous shop so I’m looking forward to this presentation. I have an old 16’ Chestnut that is ready to be canvased and I will be looking for some ideas.
I have a decent Chestnut paddle with attached decal I will donate to the silent auction.

Bill Mason's daughter, Becky will be there and his son-in-law, Reid MacLachlan will be doing a presentation on the Friday evening. Be happy to introduce you.

Thanks, I met them in Vermont at the Wilderness Paddlers gathering, they where interested in my small wall tent and stopped as they where driving by, very nice couple and she mentioned that she knew of me. Bad news travels fast.

 

[Murat V]

Just googled the drive....12 hours from G-Town. If it had been the following weekend, I would have been off work, dang it. Sounds like a great time!

We were actually aiming for the following weekend to correspond to the National Canoe Day celebrations at the Canoe Museum. Unfortunately, we couldn't secure park permits for that weekend so had to move it up by a week. Maybe you can join us next time!

Yes, same here, looking forward to meeting you and seeing some of your gear/canoe. I have never canvassed a canoe outside without permanent anchor points like I had in my previous shop so I’m looking forward to this presentation. I have an old 16’ Chestnut that is ready to be canvased and I will be looking for some ideas.
I have a decent Chestnut paddle with attached decal I will donate to the silent auction.

We're planning on securing a canvassing rig to a vehicle and a suitable tree but it will take some experimenting...all part of the fun!

Many thanks for donating to the silent auction! I'm sure there'll be lots of bids on a piece of Chestnut history.