Since the beginning of Kettle River Canoes in 2003, I wanted to focus on the restoration of wood-canvas canoes. At the same time, there are people looking to purchase a fully restored canoe. I wanted to meet this need without having to maintain and store an inventory of restored canoes. What emerged is the KRC Canoe Adoption Program. Here is how it works:
1) I am contacted regularly by people who have an old canoe and can no longer use it.
These are canoes that still belong to a current owner.
Check out the canoes currently available "for adoption" on the Adopt a Canoe page.
2) If you want one of the canoes or want me to keep my eyes open for a specific canoe, Contact me.
3) If you have a canoe you would like to "put up for adoption", send me a series of pictures
according to the instructions given on the How to Photograph your Canoe page.
4) When I get a request to put a canoe up for adoption, I prepare a detailed estimate of the work
required in a complete restoration. I then contact the current owner and determine how much
money, if any, he/she is looking to get for their canoe in the current condition.
5) When a canoe is posted as being available for adoption, the listed price includes three things:
- Acquisition cost: The amount paid to the current owner by the "adopting parent" to transfer ownership of the canoe.
- Transportation cost: The amount paid by the adopting parent to transport the canoe from its current location to the KRC canoe restoration shop in Grand Forks, BC (calculated at $2.00/loaded kilometer -- plus ferry costs if applicable).
- Restoration cost: The amount paid by the new owner (adopting parent) to have their canoe fully restored. The listed price does not include taxes or the cost of any additional options the new owner requests.
6) Therefore, KRC does not buy or sell canoes. We allow the current owner and the adopting parent to connect and exchange any money required to transfer ownership of the canoe. If you are putting your canoe up for adoption, you keep it in your possession until an adopting parent comes forward. This can be a matter of days or several years. The restoration of adopted canoes accounts for about 20% of the work done at KRC (37 of 186 canoes restored from February 2003 to February 2017).
7) Once ownership has been transferred, KRC is notified and the canoe is transported to the canoe restoration shop in Grand Forks, BC. Once in the shop, KRC has a close look at the canoe to determine exactly what needs to be done in the restoration. The new owner has complete control over this process. The colour of the canoe and any other details are determined by the new owner.