Christian Robson and Nathan Ricard in Flin Flon

Two men from Southeastern Manitoba are home following a three week journey from Flin Flon to Lake Winnipegosis, by canoe.  Christian Robson and Nathan Ricard set out October 15 with a goal to paddle from Flin Flon to Winnipeg.  They cut their journey short for a number of reasons but pledged to complete the trek in the spring. 

Robson says he originally decided to make this journey solo, partly out of frustration.  "I spent two years working really hard chasing a career and it made me sacrifice my summers and I didn't spend any time in a canoe.  So it was the coming together of a lack of canoeing frustration that made me want to canoe home from work one year from Flin Flon back to Winnipeg."

Being a good friend, Ricard considered Robson's plans to make the solo trek.  "I thought maybe it's not a good idea and maybe I should go along as safety, plus I have more training than him."



Robson recalls a number of people have asked them why they chose this time of year to complete the journey.  "I work seasonally on float planes and float planes don't fly when ice starts forming.  So it's when I could get off work."

He notes they got all the way to Duck Bay on the west shore of Winnipegosis.  "It's about the 675 km mark and took us 22 days.  We skipped Cedar lake because there is not a lot of camping opportunities because it's a Hydro reservoir lake and is pretty much all swamp.

Robson adds there were several factors that slowed them down.  "At the start of the trip there were some unmarked rapids on some of the rivers which we couldn't run so we had to do a lot of portaging.  This was really unexpected and on day we only went 8km when we had hoped to do 40km.  Essentially we lost a day right there."

He says weather was also a factor.  "Manitoba is a wonderfully predictable province for weather and usually you get north and west winds and that's what makes it cold and clear and we end up with nice fall weather.  As the trip we ended up with a lot of south and east winds and of the 22 day we were on trail we probably spent 18 of them facing headwinds or crosswinds blowing the wrong way which weren't helping us get where we were going.  When you get on the big lakes it makes for interesting conditions." 

Ricard adds a bit of wind makes a big difference.  "Even a 20km per hour wind can bring up 4 foot swells. 
There were a couple of days that we were wind bound and were not able to go anywhere.  One day at our campsite there was an east wind coming in and there were six foot waves breaking about 100 yards of shore and there was no way we could even get out on the water.  It was a nice relaxing day but a little frustrating because you can't get anywhere and we were falling behind schedule."

But Robson explains what really ended their trip was damage to the boat.  "We were in Cumberland House Lake, which is really murky in spots, and ran our canoe up on a rock.  We just heard a crunching noise but didn't think it had done any damage because the bottom of the boat was quite smooth."

Unfortunately, he says, it was the final act that ended the trip.  "Six or seven days later when we got to Lake Winnipegosis we spent a day wind bound and discovered all the gel coat was cracked and there was a three foot long section of delaminated fibreglass.  All the structural strength was gone.  The boat was flexing and doing unpleasant things on six foot waves on Lake Winnipegosis.  We didn't want to damage the boat further and we didn't really trust the boat in some of the big water we had to deal with."

Robson says there are some exciting and interesting stories from the adventure.  "The second day I got my feet wet so we started bagging our gear (to keep it dry). 
There was one set of rapids that dumped us and made us go for a bit of a swim.  Nathan has spent some time white water guiding and after we had gone through them there were eight foot standing waves in a rapid.  Nathan told me he has never been in anything that big before."

Ricard says the dunking was not expected.  "My first thought was let's get to shore, tip the boat back up, get back in and keep going.  It's nice we were wearing dry suits, it kept us dry and we weren't affected by the cold."

He recalls one thing that stands out is one of their night paddles.  "We were heading to the Pas, and we did almost 100km in one day.  We started early and it was raining and miserable but it cleared up in the afternoon and got quite nice.  We saw a pair of wolves in the afternoon, one black and one white and they were a couple of miles apart.  Later on when we were paddling at night it was quite dark and there was a huge show of northern lights, about 360 degrees around us.  There was cloud cover but the lights were so strong you could see them through the clouds.  It lit up the river like it was a full moon."

Robson recalls his highlight was on the same day.  "Because we started so early and we kept going we didn't think to push our spot tracker.  On the trip we had been very consistent in pushing the button between 7 and 7:30pm.  This night we paddled till about 10:30pm.  When we got to the Pas we found a little dock close to the town and we started stripping down, getting out of our wet clothes into dry clothes.  As I dropped my dry suit, my pants and long johns, I was standing there in my underwear when the RCMP showed up."

He explains because they forgot to check in with their spot tracker his parents had called for help.  "My dad had been quite worried because we hadn't checked in and we
were three hours late.  We were on a cold river, had been dumped in the water the day before in the rapids.  It was quite memorable to be caught in my underwear by an RCMP officer."

Robson says this was a great experience.  "Just getting out there and jumping off the edge to do something you love is incredibly rewarding.  For me 20 days of incredible Manitoba beauty, undisturbed by mosquitoes, or other people, beautiful sunsets, amazing lakes, there is just nothing better for me and I can't wait to get back out there."

Ricard says the adventure will continue next year.  "We plan to fix the boat over the winter and get back out next spring when the ice is gone and there is more daylight.  Hopefully we can finish it next year."

A facebook page has been dedicated to the journey.