A dream came true at the St. Paul Aquatic Centre when Smoky Lake’s Scott Adamson tested a glass canoe he designed and manufactured on March 25.
“To see my nephews and nieces in the water under the canoe was quite a thrill,” said Adamson. To finally be able to launch the canoe that he has dedicated 23 years of his life to creating was “the highlight of my life,” he said.
The name of Adamson’s company is Clearly Canadian Canoe Company. With the financial assistance and advice from the Community Futures, he now holds a patent on the design and a licensed trade name.
“The name of the canoe is the See View,” said Paul Pelletier, general manager for Community Futures St. Paul, Smoky Lake region. “There are glass bottom boats everywhere but no one has ever built a glass bottom canoe, so through his design patent it will be very difficult for anyone to reproduce what he’s got.”
Adamson credits the success of the project to the support he got from Community Futures and to his wife Brenda Adamson for her emotional support and paper work expertise.
The canoes are constructed from Lexan which is similar to Plexiglas. Adamson said it is a great material for the canoe because, “you can smash it all day long with a sledge hammer,” and it will not break. He added that it is also very clear. “It’s so clear that when you are in the canoe, it looks like you are standing on air,” he said.
He expects to begin manufacturing the canoes for sale at his shop at his home in Smoky Lake by the end of the month. Currently, he estimates that he can build about 10 canoes per week but as more orders come in, he is planning to hire more staff.
The best place to use the See View canoe is in clear lakes and rivers, like those found in the mountain parks areas of Alberta and B.C., Adamson said. The next step is to test the canoe in the waters of Lake Louise and he is planning a trip there as soon as the ice breaks.
“These would be great for any type of eco-tourism business,” noted Pelletier.
This is exactly the type of project that Community Futures supports because it is original, will eventually employ many people, and will increase diversity in the business community, said Pelletier. He added that he personally believes that this is going to be a very successful venture.
