If people are the brains of WRT, then canoes are its backbone. This section catalogues the canoes of WRT along with a short history of each. (Not all the canoes are shown on this page yet, but more are being added.)

Donate a Canoe

The Wildlife Research Team has a system for naming their canoes. There are two general types of canoes, solo and tandem. Solo canoes are meant to be used by one person at a time, and are often steered from a seat in the center of the boat. Tandem canoes can be used solo, but they are made for use by two or three people. Ever since Doer, WRT's first canoe, the names of the Team's tandem canoes have been variations on the word, "do," representing the hardworking spirit of the Team. Solo canoes have varying names, Magnificent Deviation being the first solo canoe and representing the deviation from the typical tandem canoes. Many of the solo canoes have names representing the black color scheme of the fleet.

Name of the canoe

[picture of the canoe]

Added to Fleet: When the canoe was added to the WRT fleet
Model: Canoes are built in many different models, differentiated by their length, their features, and the company that made them. This entry explains which model each canoe is.
Material: What it is made out of.
History: How WRT got this canoe.
Current Status: Where is it now?

Doer

Added to Fleet: Early 1993
Model: Mohawk 16' Blazer
Material: Laid fiberglass
History: Doer was the Wildlife Research Team's first canoe. She was purchased used, and in bad shape from Hurricane Andrew, with huge holes in the bow. After much restoration work, she was able to see the birth of the Wildlife Research Team. Her original yellow paint job was replaced by WRT's trademark black, and then Donna Cannon got to work painting the boat for the Team. Doer was the only WRT canoe to have stripes. However, the extra decoration was seen as too time-consuming, considering that any future canoes owned by the Team would need similar paint jobs which would have to be done all over again every time a canoe required maintenance or repainting. When the time came to repaint Doer, the colorful stripes were eliminated from the standard WRT design.
Current Status: Despite her long years of service, Doer is still seeing active duty with the Team, having recently been once again repaired and repainted. She has even been a part of the NOAA Habitat Restoration Project from 2001-2003. It is poetic justice that she is involved in repairing damage caused by hurricanes, since she was nearly destroyed by Andrew many years before.

Do-It

Added to Fleet: 1993
Model: Indian 15' keeled
Material: Chopped fiberglass
History: Do-It was purchased new.
Current Status: Being an exceptionally wide and stable canoe, Do-It is the canoe the Team uses when taking out people with handicaps or limited mobility.

Zubanelganube

       

Added to Fleet: 1994
Model: custom hand-made
Material: cedar strip
History: Named for the farthest star from Earth that can still be seen by the naked eye, Zubanelganube was built by hand at Feather Canoes, in Sarasota, FL, by Tom Kazo and Donna Cannon.
Current Status:

Did-It

Added to Fleet: September 1994
Model: Mohawk 17' guide boat
Material: Laid fiberglass
History: Did-It was the first canoe WRT received as a donation.
Current Status:

Dunnit

Added to Fleet:
Model: Sawyer 17'9" Cruiser
Material:Fiberglass
History:Purchased used in Port Charlotte, Florida; found through a newspaper ad
Current Status: After working hard on the project, Dunnit is in for long-term body repair.

Magnificent Deviation

Added to Fleet: July 1995
Model: Mohawk 14' Jensen racing canoe
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Dark Deceiver

Added to Fleet: 1995
Model: Mohawk 14' Challenger
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Doable

Added to Fleet: 1995
Model: small, less than 12'
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Black Diamond

Added to Fleet: February 1997
Model: Mohawk 14' Challenger
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Chalupa

Added to Fleet: Early 1997
Model: Mohawk 14' Challenger
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Midnight Oil

Added to Fleet: 1997
Model: Mohawk 14' Challenger
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Duzzit

Added to Fleet:
Model: Mohawk 16' Blazer
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Well-Done

Added to Fleet: 1998
Model: 16-17' keeled
Material:
History: Well-Done was received used as a donation.
Current Status:

Liquid Black

Added to Fleet:
Model: Mohawk 14' Challenger
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Sure-Do

Added to Fleet: 2001
Model: Mohawk 17'5" Intrepid
Material:
History:
Current Status:

PJ-Do-Too

Added to Fleet: 2001
Model: Mohawk 17'5" Intrepid
Material:
History:
Current Status:

It'll-Do

Added to Fleet: 2001
Model: Mohawk 17'9" Blazer
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Wanna-Do

Added to Fleet: November 2002
Model: Mohawk 17'5" Intrepid
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Do-Right

Added to Fleet: November 2002
Model: Mohawk 16' Blazer
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Do-Fer

Added to Fleet:
Model: Mohawk 16' Intrepid
Material:
History:
Current Status:

Will-Do

Added to Fleet:
Model: Mohawk 17' Intrepid
Material:
History:
Current Status: