Couple make canoe for 10-day trip

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FRUITA, Colo., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- A Colorado couple said they spent two years and three months making their own canoe and they plan to take it on a 10-day maiden voyage.

Randy and Paula Cooper of Fruita said the 15-foot, 9-inch-long canoe they made from redwood, pine and black walnut will send them skimming across Bowron Lake in British Columbia in June, The Denver Post reported Tuesday.

"Building a wood-strip canoe is something everyone should do. It's like figuring out a big jigsaw," Randy Cooper said.

"It's a lost art," Paula said. "Very few people do it anymore. But to see a canoe take on a life after you start with one piece of wood."

The Coopers said they learned the art from Paula's brother, Pete Anderson, and he and about a dozen other wood strip canoe owners will be accompanying them on the June trip to Bowron Lake Provincial Park.