Ted Moores, one of the minds behind Bear Mountain Boats, goes above and beyond to provide lifetime support to their customers. A recent email exchange with a customer who purchased plans from Bear Mountain Boats unveils the true essence of this commitment.  In 50 years of building, Ted has seen very few canoes with more than superficial damage - but it happens. Our previous customer faced a daunting challenge—a damaged canoe, shown above, after a move from the USA to England. Ted, drawing on his five decades of woodworking expertise, guided the customer through the intricate pr ..read more

We’ve helped builders all around the world make their own canoes, kayaks, and small boats. We regularly field questions about wood choice, which models to choose for specific conditions, and recommended materials. Offering that kind of advice has become second nature, so often the really tricky questions involve how to ship large, heavy, or unusually sized packages to far-flung locations. Enter our partners at Fyne Boat Kits, the official distributor of Bear Mountain products in the UK and Europe. The seasoned folks at Fyne have been in the business for over twenty years, preparing both ready ..read more

  “So…you’re driving from Toronto to Vermont to spend a week building a canoe with a guy you met for 2 hours 12 years ago?” my neighbour asked. I smiled. “Yep.” 12 years ago I was driving through the Green Mountains of Vermont when I saw a small road sign for Little Creek Canoe and Kayaks. 2 hours after turning down that dirt road, I had bought the most beautiful handmade wooden canoe I had ever seen from master craftsperson and wooden boat builder, Phil Pike. 1 year into COVID and I was paddling my beautiful canoe on the Humber River every weekend. 6 months after that I called Phil to s ..read more

We’re excited to officially announce the debut of our latest project, the Dragonfly Tandem Dragon Boat. We drew on our experience with sprint racing canoes and partnered with Nova Craft Canoe and Steve Killing Yacht Design to produce a Canadian boat that isn’t like anything else on the market.   The Dragonfly reproduces the paddling stroke of a full-size dragon boat at a fraction of the scale, so a pair of paddlers can now practice their form without the need to assemble an entire twenty-two person team. Having consulted extensively with professional athletes, coaches, an ..read more

Many woodworkers take years to realize their dream of building a canoe, but Alex Cutting's story is unique in that he laid the first planks as a child and finished the work as a full-grown adult. His story struck us as a testament to patience and perseverance—and the final product was worth the wait. Read on to hear Alex's account in his own words. When I was a kid I wanted a canoe more than anything. I begged my Dad for years and he eventually conceded, but the condition was that we had to build it. I had no interest as a 12-year-old in building a wood strip canoe, b ..read more

One of the benefits of having many years in the business is the large photo archive we can now draw on. We often dip into our albums to illustrate a solution to a customer or celebrate a particular milestone on social media—but it also provides an opportunity to reminisce. This evocative shot, taken around 1978, prompted Joan to write the following: To me, this shot captures the intensity and vision inherit in our personalities, which would be needed to pursue a dream of starting a business where we could work with our hands. We knew it would take a lot of ingenuity to develop ..read more

As of winter 2022, virtually everyone on earth can agree the past couple of years have been rough. At Bear Mountain we've been fortunate to be able to to continue supplying builders, and we're glad to have helped people pour their creativity into a project rather than spending more time stuck in a vicious news cycle. Sometimes, though, there's no substitute for a quiet moment with a good dog—and so we've put together a little gallery featuring two of our favourite things. The idea occurred to us when we considered Ted's bond with Rosie, a Portuguese water dog. Together they've settle ..read more

When Jon Evans first sent us his scale model photographs, we thought he had the subject line mixed up. He said he'd built a scale model Redbird using an older kit of ours, but the canoe appeared to be sitting in a well-appointed, full-size workshop. On closer inspection, we realized Jon had not only built a handsome model canoe—he'd situated it in a charming and painstakingly detailed diorama. His unique twist on the canoe builder's photo essay deserved more space that we could give in a simple social media post, so we asked Jon to elaborate on his setup.  This short article is inte ..read more

When Doug Brentnell shared his building story with us, we couldn't resist asking him to write something for our blog. Doug's canoes are rich with history and personal significance, and we were moved by his comparison between canoe building and quilting. Here's the story of how he set out to build a canoe for each of his kids and grandkids using repurposed woods. Above: The 1910 church that supplied the wood for the trim on one of Doug's canoes. Hi, it’s Doug Brentnell from Regina. My goal by writing this down is to perhaps inspire more people to build a canoe—many of them, in fact. My fi ..read more

Some builders are eager to get started as soon as their kit arrives; others savour having a long-term project to chip away at. Sometimes life intervenes, and a canoe build has to be moved to the backburner for awhile. That was the case for Howard Shepherd, who ordered a kit in 2000. His Bob's Special was finished and launched 21 years later, completing a decades-long dream. The canoe was a continual source of inspiration, and we're grateful to Howard for sharing his story. Read on to hear it in his words.  In the year 2000, I took the money I got from the settlement o ..read more