Verchere Rowboat

The third and final set of stamps in the Small Craft series - Pleasure Craft - will be issued on July 18, 1991. While the first two sets in the series focussed on boats as essential modes of transportation and commerce, this last segment displays how boats have evolved into a recreational pastime for millions of Canadians. As Canada is bounded by three oceans and is blessed with a large network of inland and rivers, it is not surprising that the mode of transportation which originally opened up this vast country to the Voyageurs is now a pleasurable sporting activity. The verchère rowboat first appeared on the St. Lawrence River in Quebec in the mid-1800's. Two families originally built this 14 to 24 foot flat-bottomed boat, which was, at first, pointed at both ends. Louis St-Pierre, a resident of Bouchard Island across from the town of Verchères, has been attributed with the design concept for this stable rowboat. Today only one family has retained the traditional occupation of longboat man: the Desmarais. The stamps were designed by Louis-André Rivard and Bernard Leduc, who combined the transversal frame design of each boat in the foreground with a relevant scenic background.