Voyage of Dreams in the News

Couple to travel 2,500 miles in homemade canoe

WOODLAND - "We've always had a family motto: 'what you talk about, we do,'" quipped Jay Wilson.
   That mantra suited Jay and Lee Wilson while they were raising their three sons and one daughter, and has continued toward leading them on their current adventure.
   The Wilsons will soon embark upon a journey that will take them several months, 2,500 miles and through seven states including Idaho, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Missouri and Illinois.
   Jay, 76, with the help of his son, Guy, has built a 30-foot-by-six-foot cargo canoe. He and Lee, 72, will steer their boat along the Missouri River on the Lewis and Clark Trail starting at Three Rivers, Mont., and ending in St. Louis, Mo. They plan to sail back the same route.
   The canoe is made from scraps of mahogany and other wood, fiberglass, and 1-1/2-inch thick high density foam. The boat is painted yellow with a white bottom.
   "It is ultra light for its size," Jay explained. "It weighs in the neighborhood of 200 pounds."
   "Voyagers Dream" is not the first boat Jay has built. He began boat design and building at the age of 8 when he and his grandmother built a boat made from orange crates and moulding -- and painted it yellow. His next boat, a Jolly Roger, was purchased with $10 he earned by "mowing a lot of lawns," It was destroyed in a hurricane on the East Coast.
   "The love of boats has always been in his blood," explained Lee, a retired chiropractor. "His great-grandfather was a marine engineer and Jay attended maritime high school for a time."
   Jay, a retired phone company employee, built boats with his children and on his own and has sailed all but four rivers in California and into the Hudson Bay as well.
   "We are both experienced sailors," he said, pointing to his wife of 53 years. "Were healthy and want to live the dream."
   The Wilsons, who have made their home in Grangeville since 1983, have been building the canoe in the shop of their friends, Bernie and Mary Willis, in Woodland, outside of Kamiah. The plan is for Bernie to go on the canoe with them and for Mary to drive their RV along the trail.
   The Wilsons will have to dock, place the canoe on a trailer and travel that way each time they come to the 14 dams along the trail.
   "This is one reason the vessel had to be so light, so we can easily move it in and out of the water with only a few people," Jay explained.
   Previously the longest sailing trip the Wilsons have taken is 700 miles. Jay is a skin diver who is a member of Idaho County Search and Rescue. Voyagers Dream will have two global positioning systems aboard as well as dehydrated food, a water filter, port-a-potty, air mattresses, cameras and more.
   The canoe is powered by the five-foot paddles Jay will work but also has the power of paddle wheels with eight paddles, and spirit sails.
   The Wilsons plan to leave within the next few weeks but will first test their canoe this Saturday, 9 a.m., from Kamiah's Riverfront Park boat ramp. The Wilsons invite the public to view the canoe on its maiden voyage June 17.
   "We'll sail to Orofino for a test run and see what changes we need to make," Jay said. "There are always changes -- a boat is a compromise; there is no perfect boat."
   "What I really want is for other people to get the idea to begin living their dreams, too," Jay emphasized.
   To keep up with the Wilson's journey log onto www.voyageofdreams.com

The Ultimate Adventures of Jay and Lee Wilson

Our Press Release-
Rural Northwest - April 24th, 2006