Black Bear Island Lake, race stage 8 & 9.
The Teams
Including Team Scotland, 31 teams have registered for the Saskatchewan Centennial Canoe Quest.
Team Scotland
As of April 18th, the following people have confirmed that they are joining Team Scotland to race in Canada.
 Duncan Thomson (Team Captain)Edinburgh and Kenmore, Perthshire Living back in Scotland after spending 2 years canoeing in Canada, the lure of the wilderness has proven too strong to resist. The time has come, as in centuries past, for the St Andrew's Cross to pass proudly along the waterways of Saskatchewan. |
 Fiona BarclayGlasgow and Cupar, Fife I'm in my final year at Strathclyde University Business School studying Management Science. Instead of graduating with the rest of my year I will be celebrating (hopefully) in a much more memorable fashion! I am a rower with Strathclyde University Boat Club and enjoy life on the river!! Last Summer I went on a road trip from Vancouver to Quebec and down to Toronto after studying in British Columbia. The Centennial Canoe Quest will give me the opportunity to explore Canada in a new light. |
 Fiona Clark (Embedded Reporter)Aberdeen As a reporter on BBC Radio Scotland's 'Out of Doors' programme I interview all sorts of people, doing all sorts of amazing outdoorsy things. After doing that for two years I wanted to have a go at doing something amazing too! I hope to document the trip for 'Out of Doors'—that is if I can still hold up a microphone after canoeing 10 hours a day. |
 Alison GrayGlasgow and Dunfermline, Fife I love the arts and I am currently studying for a BA in Community Arts at Strathclyde University. Aside from studying I am a keen rower and compete as a member of Strathclyde University Boat Club. I have never traveled outside of Europe so I am really looking forward to taking part in the Saskatwan Centennial Canoe Quest. I love the outdoors, camping and water related sports so I think that it will be an excellent way to discover Canada. |
 Alistair Hume (Team Piper)Brodick, Isle of Arran Married with two grown up children and work for Scottish Water, hobbies include sea kayaking, golf, piping with the Isle of Arran Pipe Band and long time member of Arran Mountain Rescue team. |
 John JohnstonGlasgow I am over 21 and have 2 children still at home, stay in Glasgow and I don't support either celtic or rangers. I work in the outdoor industry and enjoy a lot of outdoor activities, although having the actual time to participate is always a problem. Other interests include reading, family and going for a few beers. |
 Dave Latham (Team voyageur canoe specialist)Finzean, Aberdeenshire Dave has been canoeing and kayaking in Scotland for over 20 years. He is a canoe coach, mountaineer and ski instructor. He lives in a small croft in the middle of a birch wood, by a river, at the foot of a mountain. This trip gives Dave an opportunity to extend his skills and experience in a new and challenging environment. |
 Sian LoftusEdinburgh A nomad and keen traveller from an early age I grew up in Wales, Papua New Guinea and Australia. I moved to Scotland 8 years ago and work in the Buildings Department at The National Trust for Scotland. I have some canoeing and kayaking experience (though I'm not a regular paddler), I have a love of wild landscapes and I enjoy a challenge. The SCCQ promises to be an amazing, and rewarding, challenge and I'm really looking forward to being a part of it. |
 Katrina ThomsonEdinburgh Raised in the East Neuk of Fife, I moved to Edinburgh in my teens to take a degree in Fine Art at Edinburgh University—it's such a great city, I've never left! In 2001, after six years with the National Galleries of Scotland, I joined The National Trust for Scotland as its Curator of Works of Art and Sculpture. The Trust is the country's largest voluntary organisation, caring for over one hundred sites of outstanding cultural importance and natural beauty, from castles to cottages, and mountains to moorlands. Having only brandished a paddle a few times before, I'm hardly what you would call a seasoned professional in canoeing. But what I lack in experience, I hope to make up for in enthusiasm and a love of wild landscape a good challenge - deep heat sprays at the ready, I'm prepared to give it my best shot! |
Team List
Teams have been divided into three categories: Host Communities (teams from communities en route), Northern Entries (teams from Northern Saskatchewan) and Open Entries. By controlling and encouraging the numbers of teams registering in each category, the race committee have ensured that local communties and teams from the area are well represented, while still allowing those eager from elsewhere, including Scotland, to get in on the action. The 31 teams registered for the race are:
Host Communities | ||
| Amachewispimawin Paddlers, Stanley Mission, Saskatchewan | Amisk Lake Voyageurs, Denare Beach, Saskatchewan | Applebee, Prince Albert, Saskatchewan |
| Buffalo Narrows Peter Pond Paddlers, Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan | Buffalo River Bisons, Dillon, Saskatchewan | Ciman Challengers, Cumberland House, Saskatchewan |
| Clearwater Kodiak, Clearwater River Dene Nation, La Loche, Saskatchewan | Des Nedhe Dene, English River First Nation, Patuanak, Saskatchewan | PBCN Otawacikiwak—Team 1, Peter Balantyne Cree Nation, Pelican Narrows, Saskatchewan |
| PBCN Otawacikiwak—Team 2, Peter Balantyne Cree Nation, Sturgeon Landing, Saskatchewan | Pinehouse Lake, Pinehouse Lake, Saskatchewan | Sakitawak Voyageurs, Île-à-La-Crosse, Saskatchewan |
Northern Entries | ||
| Cumberland House, Cumberland House, Saskatchewan | Hudbay River Dogs, Northern Recreation Coordinating Committee | O Kehtay O Pimiskaw Wuk, La Ronge, Saskatchewan |
| Opimiskaw, Cumberland House, Saskatchewan | Pine Bluff Paddlers—Mistagotthegaseek Opemiskcowwak, Cumberland House Cree Nation, Saskatchewan | River Women, Cumberland House, Saskatchewan |
| Sandy Bay Canoe Club, Sandy Bay, Saskatchewan | Shared Paths, La Ronge, Saskatchewan | Team La Loche, La Loche, Saskatchewan |
Open Entries | ||
| CPAWS, Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society (Saskatchewan Chapter) | Kisseynew Canoe Company, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | Lakeland College, Vermillion, Alberta |
| OCN—Men, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, The Pas, Manitoba | OCN—Women, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, The Pas, Manitoba | RCMP, Royal Canadian Mounted Police |
| Rockettes, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta | Team Rock, Pukatawagan, Manitoba | Team Scotland, Scotland, UK |
| Waskaiganeek Middle Men, Cumberland House Cree Nation, Saskatchewan | ||
The official Saskatchewan Centennial Canoe Quest website is the best source for up-to-date, accurate team information.
The grave of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Scottish-Canadian explorer, Avoch, Ross-shire.