Left to the elements and birds under a Vancouver bridge, several tired-looking dragon boats will be restored to their former beauty here in Salmon Arm.
Rooted in an ancient folk ritual, dragon boat races have been held for more than 2,000 years throughout southern China.
The sport was introduced to Canada when the Chinese boats were donated to Expo ’86, the World Exposition on Transportation and Communication in Vancouver.
“Several years later, the Vancouver Taiwanese Cultural Society introduced six of their traditional yellow cedar racing boats to Vancouver, bringing the complete collection to a total of 15 wooden dragon boats,” notes Ted Crouch, a Shuswap Association for Rowing and Paddling (SARP) director. “Following two decades of regular use by thousands of paddlers, they have been dry-docked under the Burrard Street bridge since 2008 and each of the boats require varying degrees of restoration.”
The Chinese Cultural Centre Dragon Boat Association (CCCDBA) who owned the boats was asked to move them or lose them to the landfill.
After trying unsuccessfully to get a Lower Mainland club to take the boats, a ‘for-sale’ notice was posted on a Dragon Boat West web forum.
Spying the notice, Crouch contacted the association beginning what he calls ‘the great dragon boat event.’
At the end of April, he and canoe restoration expert Ed Campbell drove to the Coast to learn their history and decide if the boats could be salvaged.
“On the way back from Vancouver, we agreed, ‘it’s all or nothing,’” says an enthusiastic Crouch of discovering that beneath the grunge lay the gorgeous teak of basically sound boats. “I felt we had a responsibility to the dragon boat community of Canada.”
Eminently qualified to judge the condition of the boats, the semi-retired Campbell has taught several courses in log home construction and canoe building at the college level.
Back in Salmon Arm, Crouch met with Mayor Nancy Cooper, Lana Fitt, manager of Salmon Arm Economic Development Society and Robyn Cyr, Columbia Shuswap Regional District economic development officer and Shuswap Tourism manager.
“These women each saw the project as unique, with significant potential for skill training, community involvement and tourism development,” says Crouch, noting Okanagan College Salmon Arm dean Jim Barmby, also saw the possibilities.
After getting the CCCDBA to donate rather than sell the boats, paddles and drums, the next hurdle was finding a way to get 15 40-foot boats, each weighing 1,400 pounds, from Vancouver to Salmon Arm.
The Chinese association had access to a trailer and Dean Fortin, a longtime member of the Vancouver dragon-boating community donated his expertise in transporting the boats.
A business owner Crouch describes as a “strong, community minded” individual, offered secure, sheltered space for the restoration.
“I have almost a mystical feeling about them,” said Campbell, gently rubbing the glorious teak his work has revealed on one of the boats last Friday. “It’s almost a living thing; the wood could go back more than 100 years.”
And Campbell is ready to share his expertise.
The not-for-profit Aspiral Youth Partners Association is preparing an application for a provincially administered community employment development grant.
If approved, Aspiral will manage the yearlong project that would see up to 12 individuals gain marketable work experience to assist them in the development of new skills in woodwork, restoration, painting, power tool operation, personal management and teamwork, supported by short-term courses in work-place safety and first aid.
“Ed is the heart and soul of what we are doing here,” says Crouch of Campbell’s passion for wood as well as teaching and business acumen.
The CCCDBA donation was arrived at with the understanding that one of the restored dragon boats would be returned to the association.
And while several of the boats will remain with SARP, Crouch and Campbell envision the restored works of art on display in a number of museums, airports and other venues.
Passionate in his belief the wooden water craft must be preserved, Crouch intends to continue co-ordinating the restoration project, but other organizations and individuals are welcome to get onboard.
To learn more about the project and how you can become involved, contact Crouch at 250-833-0332 or send an email to dragonboatdirector@gmail.com.