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Voyageur Canoes and Northern Lights

Susan Mckenzie / 22.08.2003

The Northern Lights show had packed it in for the night, but Mars was still in the clear night sky when the first team paddled into CP17 on the shores of French Lake in Quetico Provincial Park, the end of the Voyageur canoe section (and the end of the paddling altogether).

“That was magnificent,� says Bruno Rey as he pulls the 300-pound Voyageur canoe ashore. “They are very big, but they move really well through the water.�

“I could not believe how fast they were,� says Stephane Toussaint. “At first, we were doing maybe a kilometre an hour, but then after about 500 metres suddenly it started to go so fast.�

“I think I preferred that to the other canoes,� says Rey. “I felt more like we were working as a team in that canoe than on the other ones. I wish we had done more of it. I like it very much when we come to races and practice new disciplines, learn about new cultures.�

The portages throughout Quetico Provincial Park proved to be as much amusement as hard work. On one of the longer portages, the team spent as much time slipping off the trail as on. At one point they ended up waist deep in the swamp. “It was a little bit Laurel and Hardy,� says Rey.

Team EADS has led the race virtually from the start. “This style of race suits us very well,� says Rey. “It is an expedition race, not a sprint race. There is a lot of navigation, so much choice in terms of route. We brought two navigators with us, so we had two people making decisions, so we make sure we make no mistakes.�

After five days of racing, Teams EADS' feet are in perfect condition. A few lost toenails, but otherwise no blisters, no sores and no rashes.

“We have a secret weapon for our feet,� says Cyril Margaritis, reaching into his gear box and pulling out a pair of water-repelling socks. “I first learned about these in Sweden,� says Stephane Toussaint. “They work so well, keep your feet very dry. It makes an incredible difference.�

The team lingers in the checkpoint, a bit slow to get on their bikes for the final leg of this journey. Laurence Maurin, Cyril Margaritis and Stephane Toussaint wait impatiently as Bruno Rey runs to the warmth of the campsite bathroom, complete with hot water and a flush toilet.

“I am getting cold,� says Maurin as she dances from foot to foot.

“Allons, Bruno! Depeche toi,� cries Margaritis. Hurry up. Let’s go.

Finally, Rey appears and they pedal off in the darkness, 80 kilometres from the finish with no competition in sight. Still, Rey takes nothing for granted. “There is still a lot of race to do,� he says cautiously. “It is not over yet.�

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