Poling Canoe Design and Build Project

Freight Canoe

Michael Manzo, the owner and designer of Yukon Freightworks Canoe Company, has contacted Fairbanks Paddlers and expressed interest in getting a group of experienced canoeist  together to design and build a 20 foot poling canoe. Michael would host the project in his 120′ x 40′ canoe and freight sled building shop in Delta Junction.

He has proposed this process with a small group of interested paddlers.

  1. Begin the draw-up of a double-ended, 20 ft poling canoe design.
  2. Train the crew on how to transfer these dimensions into a male plug.
  3. Train the crew to construct an industrial-grade, reusable two-piece female mold. (He will donate materials)
  4. Using the best epoxy resins, foam cores and paints, teach the crew how to pop a fresh hull.
  5. Fashion gunwales, thwarts, and seats from live slabs of white ash.
  6. Finish the Poling Canoe
  7. Test the canoe with a typical load of freight on a wild river.
  8. Donate Canoe to a youth poling and lining class program.

General dimensions will be 20 ft long. A center beam somewhere between 41-46 inches. A canoe designed to be paddled, poled and use of a small portable outboard no heavier than 55 lbs. A safe, beamy, all-around poling canoe designed exclusively for Alaskan families, by Alaskans, fills a void that has existed for far too long.

Photos show some of the foam core epoxy freighter canoes that Michael has designed and built.

Dates and times are flexible and to be worked out between Michael and the group. Michael hopes to attract a unique bunch that would like to contribute to the design. He indicates that it’s a complicated, challenging endeavor designing from scratch. Much of the initial white board/ design-theory can be done via zoom while we wait for medical advancements against this current pandemic.

Interested individuals or groups should contact Michael directly at:

Michael Manzo
Owner/Desginer
Yukon Freightworks Canoe Co.
907-903-2101
freightercanoes@gmail.com
About the project host, Michael Manzo:
After three one-year tours in the Iraq war with the C-84th Engineers Combat Heavy Company, I returned back to Alaska to Attend Alaska Pacific University to create a canoe building company. For over 8 years now, I”ve built dozens of freighter canoes for rural subsistence folks and adventurists. I operate Alaska’s only canoe company, and additional shops will be opened in Hondo, Alberta and Dyer Brook, Maine. The design came about after three trips up the Kandik River in 2010, 2011 and 2012 as well as many other rivers, creeks and lakes all over Alaska. I’m a registered member of the Band of Aroostook Micmacs in Presque Isle Maine. My grandmother was a basket, snowshoe and paddle maker from the Eel Ground Reserve in New Brunswick. She is in the book: Our Lives in Our Hands. In Addition to building freighter canoes, I also build freight sleds, testing them on winter caribou hunts with my team of Alaskan Malamutes. I currently run a kennel of 11 malamutes, with an additional litter on the way. They’ve primarily been used to haul 2-3 caribou at a time, sheefish, cabin tents, wood stoves and large caches of grub. They’ve been trained on the sea ice and treeless regions of the Northwest Arctic, as well as the wooded trails here in the interior. My canoes and dog sled builds have been filmed with National Geographic. My current customer-base is an eccentric bunch of adventurists and subsistence folks. Here’s a couple examples of my customers in action:

 

6 Comments

  1. Kevin Moto on January 18, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    Do you make and sell the white canoe?

  2. Mike Zimmer on February 2, 2021 at 2:43 pm

    I’m interested in purchasing a canoe

  3. John Schneider on March 9, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    Micheal, fantastic endurance and attitude, I commend you.
    However can someone inform me on your super heavy weight wool sweater you wear as to where those are made and to purchase one , thank you.

  4. Dawna Nowlan on May 2, 2021 at 11:19 am

    Hi Michael! I am a huge fan of Life Below Zero: Next Generation I just watched an episode where you mentioned your Grandmother was from the Eel Ground reserve in New Brunswick I live in Sunny Corner , NB, about 10-15 minutes away from Eel Ground. I was so surprised when you mentioned it.
    What was your Grandmothers name?

  5. Michael Manzo on June 17, 2021 at 1:14 pm

    Kevin, no I only design from scratch. I don’t like copying other’s work.

    Mike, my website is http://www.freightercanoes.com for more info. Thanks for your interest.

    John,
    My sweaters were hand made in Iceland. Not available here I don’t think.

    Dawna, my grandmothers last name was Tenass. Her father was Peter Tenass Jr. , her Grandfather was Chief Peter Tenass.

  6. Cindy B. on March 21, 2022 at 6:40 pm

    Where can you purchase your canoes? Do you have a website? They are beautiful works of art!

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