Our Story
A Garage, a Vision, and a Very Determined Canoe
In the summer of 2003, Elara Moss backed her truck out of the garage of her Bend, Oregon home to make room for something that would change both her life and the lives of everyone who eventually paddled one: a canoe.
Elara had spent 15 years guiding wilderness canoe expeditions in the Boundary Waters and Quetico, and she was frustrated. Every paddle season, she watched clients struggle with canoes that were too heavy, too tippy, too poorly made for the water they were paddling. Meanwhile, the handful of truly exceptional hull builders were either closing down or charging prices that put their canoes out of reach for most paddlers.
She called Daniel River.
Daniel came from three generations of Maine canoe builders. His grandfather had learned the craft from a man who had been building wood-canvas canoes since the 1920s. Daniel had spent 12 years working in a traditional boatshop in Rangeley, Maine — long enough to master every technique, and long enough to see that the craft needed to evolve to survive.
Together, they built the first Wilderness Scout in Elara's garage using reclaimed cedar and an experimental bio-based epoxy resin that a materials engineer friend had been developing. The result was a solo canoe unlike anything either of them had paddled: light, responsive, beautiful, and built from materials they could be proud of.
Word spread through the paddling community with the kind of momentum that only happens when something is genuinely extraordinary. By the following spring, Elara and Daniel had orders for 12 canoes and a waiting list of 30.
Twenty Years Later
By 2006, Green Voyage had moved into a dedicated 6,000 sq ft workshop on the east side of Bend and hired its first two craftspeople — both experienced paddlers, as every Green Voyage employee since has been.
The first few years were spent mostly in the Kevlar composite tradition: fine-tuned touring hulls for serious paddlers. But Daniel's wood-canvas heritage kept pulling at the company's identity, and in 2009 they launched the Heritage Classic — a wood-canvas canoe built the old way, with modern sustainability standards.
The Heritage Classic was named canoe of the year by Paddling Magazine in 2010 and 2014. The waiting list has been 16–20 weeks ever since.
Today, Green Voyage employs 23 craftspeople, ships to 48 states and 12 countries, and has been carbon neutral for seven consecutive years. Our workshop is larger, our line is broader, and our waiting lists are longer — but the belief that started it all hasn't changed by a single grain.
Founders
Elara Moss
Co-Founder & CEO
Elara spent 15 years as a wilderness guide in the Boundary Waters and Quetico before co-founding Green Voyage. She holds WASI Level 4 certification and has led over 200 multi-day canoe expeditions. She oversees our design philosophy, sustainability programs, and customer experience.
Daniel River
Co-Founder & Head of Craft
Daniel's grandfather built wood-canvas canoes in the Maine tradition, and Daniel followed the craft through his own career. Before Green Voyage, he spent 12 years with a traditional canoe builder in Rangeley, Maine. He oversees every hull that leaves our workshop.
Our Values
Craftsmanship Over Volume
We build 150–200 canoes per year. We'll never build more than our team can build well. Every hull gets the full attention of an experienced craftsperson from lamination to final inspection.
Sustainability by Design
We've been carbon neutral since 2018. We use FSC-certified wood, bio-based resins, and recycled carbon fiber. Sustainability isn't a marketing message — it's a constraint we design around.
Paddlers Building for Paddlers
Every member of our design and build team paddles seriously. The Wilderness Scout was refined through 11 seasons of Boundary Waters tripping by the people who built it.
Community Stewardship
2% of our annual revenue goes directly to waterway conservation through our Watershed Partners program. Our current beneficiaries: the Boundary Waters Trust and Oregon Wild.
See What We Build
Every canoe in our lineup reflects 20 years of refinement. Browse the collection.
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