The Legend of Father and Otter:
The Creation of a Triple Kayak.
In November 2007, Heather and Bruce Neilson began building a wooden kayak from scratch in their basement in British Columbia, Canada. They followed the Osprey Triple pattern from Pygmy Boats. Bruce passed away after a year-long battle with metastasized colon cancer in September 2008, but Heather continued to work on the kayak, with help from her boyfriend Chris and her mother Christine. The kayak was completed in July 2009, just in time for Heather and Christine to participate in Kayak for a Cure to raise money for cancer research. By clicking on the photos below, you can look through a photo gallery for each stage of the kayak-building process.
The Adventures of Father and Otter
Click on the photo below to see more photos of the finished kayak.
Click on each photo below to see more photos from each step of the process.
Step 1. Drawing and cutting out the pieces
Step 2. Assembling the hull
Step 3. Fibreglassing the hull
Step 4. Assembling the deck
Step 5. Joining the hull and the deck
Step 6. Cockpit coamings and finishing (In Progress)
Step 7. Installing the rudder system and deck rigging
In the Media:
CTV - BC
Daughter fundraises in memory of her father (Aug 30, 6 o'clock news)
The Province
Kayak a family testament to cancer victim (Aug 31)
Click here to make a donation to the Colo-rectal Cancer Association of Canada through CanadaHelps.org in honour of Bruce, Heather and their journey to create through adversity.
Heather finished the kayak in the summer of 2009, and she and Christine participated in Kayak for a Cure 2009, raising over $5000 for cancer research.
See above for links to media coverage of Heather and Christine's participation in the event from CTV and The Province. You can read more about the annual Kayak for a Cure event at kayakforacure.org.
The moral of this story is that from adversity, we can create joy: we can start from a terrible tragedy, and create something that will be enjoyed for years to come.
Site by Jenn Neilson. Updated: Jul. 13, 2010