This is the first update about videographer Kyle Sauer and the Expedition 2012 team. Read the first story about Expedition 2012 HERE.

Naperville North alumni and videographer, Kyle Sauer, and the Expedition 2012 team have paddled their way into the back streams of Canada. Sauer, in a crew of ten paddlers, embarked on a 1,200 mile canoe trip last month, beginning in the backwoods of Vermont.

This past Tuesday, the team reached the final resupply station and is now cut off from civilization. They will complete the trip towards the end of June in James Bay, warranting nature and water levels. Sauer is documenting the trip and wilderness territory with video and photography.

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The crew has encountered a few hiccups along the route. As they entered the mouth of the West Montreal River, they dodged forest fires near Timmins, Ontario. Their satellite phone is out of commission—the solar battery charger broke.

Their only means of communication is a Spot Machine which uploads GPS coordinates via satellite to their website and allows a team at base camp, in Vermont, to monitor progress. It has an emergency rescue button, just in case. Some of the crew nearly got hypothermia, but most importantly, the canoes the crew built are holding up well.

Canoe building the traditional way

The team built five 17 ft. boats out of wood and canvas, beginning c0nstruction last December. The crew wanted to have an authentic paddling experience. No modern materials. No fiberglass, aluminum, or metal. Traditional paddling ways and preservation of the wilderness territory for future generations are at the core of the crew’s mission.

The canoes are fashioned after the Chesnut Prospector. Their swooping curves are just right for maneuverability and storing necessary gear and provisions. They are reminiscent of canoes used by French fur traders a couple hundred years back.

They first formed a mold out metal and wood to steam bend 44 cedar ribs for the main skeleton of the canoe.

This video demonstrates the first half of the canoe building process. The shell and support structure are built out of cedar and oak. The team hammers hundreds of boat tacks into the wood to keep it all together.

In this second part of the canoe building process, canvas sheets are stretched around the wood structure. The team then waterproofs, sands and paints the canoes green. They brand the canoe with the Expedition 2012 emblem.