Canoe Quest Underway
Monday, June 20, 2005 at 13:29
One of the most anticipated Centennial events in Saskatchewan this year got underway this morning in La Loche.
After weeks of hype, 31 teams entered in the Saskatchewan Centennial Canoe Quest finally have their boats in the water.
In fact, they’ve been paddling since 6 am.
They will travel over 1,000 kilometres down the old Churchill River trade route over the next couple of weeks.
The teams are traveling in 25-foot voyageur canoes, and are scheduled to finish the race July 5th in Cumberland House.
Along the way, they’ll be making several stops in northern communities, who have been readying special festivities for the paddlers for months now.
Race coordinator Sharalyn Reitlo says this event has the potential to give northern tourism a real boost.
Most of the teams are from Saskatchewan, but there are a few from out-of-province, including one entry from Scotland.
This is an actual race, with about $56,000 in prize money at stake.