Canoe Business In Winter

A canoe shop owner admitting he’s not in the “canoe business” so much as the “canoe logistics business” is the kind of honesty we love, and it’s exactly where this chat goes. We’re recording live from the Hamilton Adventure Expo with Greg Robertson from Organic Boat Shop, with a classic Ontario snow dump on the way, and somehow that makes everything feel even more Canadian: planning paddling season while bracing for winter. 

We get into how outdoor shows kick-start trip planning, gear research, and that first spark of motivation to book time off and map routes. Greg breaks down the real rhythm of canoe sales in Canada, why winter buyers move slower, and how a mid-season pause can hit your numbers hard when fall arrives and you’re suddenly “out of sight, out of mind”. If you’ve ever wondered why lead times, delivery schedules, and testing boats can be tricky, this pulls back the curtain in a practical way. 

From there we shift into the family side of building an outdoor brand. Greg talks about his wife Jody coming into the business full-time, how that changes operations, and why their French River rental and cabin-based day-trip model helps more people say yes to canoe camping even if they don’t want to sleep on the ground anymore. We also touch ORCKA courses, guided trips, and the gear details that never make it into glossy photos: composite boat storage, outfitting work, skid plates, and even a 21-foot freighter canoe that might end up on a trailer with a motor. 

If you like real talk about paddling, small business, and planning better canoe trips, subscribe, share this with a camping buddy, and leave a review with your favourite takeaway.

https://www.organicboatshop.com/

https://www.facebook.com/organicboatshop

https://www.instagram.com/organicboatshop/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCowp8PZzrHDIF6yVZh6GnQQ

https://www.tiktok.com/@organicboatshop

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Greg

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Good day, eh? And welcome to the Super Good Camping Podcast. My name's Tim, and we're here to inspire people to get outside and enjoy camping adventures such as uh, well, our the missing lady and I enjoy as a family. Uh today's guest is Greg Robertson from Organic Boat Shop.

Hamilton Adventure Expo And Snowstorm

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Uh, we're at the Hamilton Adventure Expo. This is day two, so it's a little bit more less crazy. A little bit yesterday was a busy day, man. Yeah?

SPEAKER_00 0:30

It was, yeah. There's uh really good turnouts. I've always been impressed uh from the get-go of this show, only their second year, but with uh Bretton and Jay. Uh just their dedication to getting the word out there and beating the bush and getting the right uh vendors, speakers. They've done a really good job of creating an awesome brand show. Um yeah, awesome uh crowd yesterday. Even today, we got some weather, but still good turnouts, and yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Yeah, well, for the record, we're uh what is today, the 25th of uh January, the Sunday, and I think around 15 minutes from now it's gonna start just dumping from the sky. We're supposed to get somewhere between six and twelve inches. So what's that 15 to 15 to 30 centimeters by the time all is said and done? So yeah, not surprising that things are a little quieter today.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Yeah, but good uh good turnout still, and uh it's been a good show for us. We had a lot of even just old customers coming through yesterday and people that's uh new people looking for boats and gear, and uh this this show like kind of gets the season started even earlier in a good way. I started having the feeling of like, oh, is like vacation time over? Like that we're just yep, yeah. But uh it's good because it kind of gets people thinking and talking a little bit about things and uh helps us too to get going, remind us okay, things are coming down pipeline, let's go and planning trips, and yeah, it should

The Cost Of Taking A Break

SPEAKER_00 1:50

be good.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

Well, yeah, I mean, for the record, uh A, because I know you B because just watching social media, you don't ever stop anyhow.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, we always uh I feel like if I let the gas off too much, it's not a I hear you, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Just a little side note. So a few years back, two years back, probably we started taking a hiatus in the middle of the summer. Yeah, our numbers are absolutely in the toilet in the early part of the fall. Yeah. Simply because people just you know, out of sight, out of mind, right?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

100%. It like I notice if I I track all my numbers of boat sales throughout the every month. I go back and look like, yeah, I was burned out that month. Yep. Yeah, that's that's why that's there. I was doing a little more hunting in September than I because I needed it. It's good.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

That's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Yeah, it's part of the game. You grow, change things changed

Family Help And A Better Rhythm

SPEAKER_00 2:35

over time. And we have some new staff this year that'll help more, and my wife's Jody's full time with our business now.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Oh, great, yeah, because I keep seeing her. It's like, well, yeah, yeah. I thought you were just sort of in and out kind of a deal.

SPEAKER_00 2:45

Right. So she was uh she was full-time at an outdoor education school and and doing outdoor education with uh with the kids. They spent their whole day outside, right? And uh she loved that, absolutely loved that. She and the last last school year she said, I think I'm gonna come work full-time with the business. I'm like, Well, really, like awesome. It's been an awesome thing, not just for the business, because she brings a lot more organization to it than I do.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

I noticed that when you guys were signing up.

SPEAKER_00 3:08

Yeah, yeah. But uh, I mean it's been so good for our family too. Like we have the four kids, so having a steady person in the house, you know, is huge, and uh especially like during the season, right? So and then she runs a lot of our rental business up in French River in this in the summer and just

French River Cabin Trips And Courses

SPEAKER_00 3:25

enjoys that, spending time just a better place there in our cabin that she designed and you know worked with the contractors to build. So we actually have uh uh trip this couple trips this year where um uh some customers will be coming up, stay at our cabin, and we'll be going out on day trips onto the French River.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

Right, you were mentioned I I after ice out, right?

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Yeah, right. So it'd be kind of people that aren't maybe they're not so keen on sleeping on the ground as much anymore, that sort of thing, but still get into it enjoy the the French River, some awesome parts of the French and explore and stuff, and still then come back to the cabin and hang out on the fire and have a bed to sleep in at night sort of thing. And so that well, we're looking forward to that. We've had some good response to that so far. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:09

Alright, cool. Well, just to just to let the the audience know, it's a so great the organic boat shop isn't just about obviously selling gear, they they do sell uh you guys sell canoes, paddles, yeah, yeah. We pretty much everything.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

Yeah, we sell canoes for H2O and then Rayome, and and we're uh a skiff canoes, we're their largest retailer as well. So uh yeah, our main thing is selling canoes, we sell across the country, across Canada, and then and down to the states as well. If you're looking for boats who deliver at like really reasonable prices for delivery fees, um, but then we also we run ORCAD courses, that's how I met you.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:42

Yeah, uh Tim and Thomas came on our all of our ORCAD trips, uh courses. Sorry, and then uh we had a lot of uh people that were taking our courses. I was like, hey, do you guys run trips? So we started doing that last year or the year before, I think. And um last year you came up for a Spanish river trip that didn't pan out, but uh it's okay, we're gonna take another shot, it's coming this year, so it'll be good.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

And that tomotamy trip, yeah. But I've mentioned it a million times, right? Is the best group trip I've ever had in my life.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Right, yeah. So it's pretty sweet. So fish and eggs for breakfast, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:12

It was terrible. Yeah. I I highly don't recommend doing it.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yeah, yeah. So uh no, it should be a good year. Looking forward to it and uh see how things every year I always like uh you kind of you make plans for the year and there's certain things you want to focus on. But what I like about each year is that the surprise things that come up, right, that you never thought about, and they they're awesome for the outdoor community, but also business-wise they support us and works well, and it's like, wow, this is cool. Never thought this would, this new path would work well, and and so who knows what will happen this year that way, but uh really looking forward to whatever transpires.

SPEAKER_01 5:44

So well, yeah, I'm sure I'm sure that it it's a it's mixed parts, stress and enjoyable, but but as a business owner in a previous life, that was that was one of the cool things because it kept it from being same, same on the time.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Right, exactly, right, yeah, exactly. So yeah, years ago I was I worked in the insurance industry and I was in a little cubicle. And uh nice people I worked with, right? But then at some point it was like 2022, I was like, it's gonna be the rest of my life. Yeah, I don't know if I can't. It's my personality, I just like couldn't, right? So and I've done different things throughout my life now, but uh really enjoy what we're doing now. It's a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

I'm glad, man. I'm glad.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Yeah, less uh sexy than most people probably think, right? At first you're like, I'm in the canoe business, I saw cities, and then you're like, I'm in the canoe logistics business, and I'm a canoe salesman. But then we and last year I didn't spend enough time paddling, but I got out on a Spanish river trip and then threw my back out. Yes, right? But uh so this year I might I hope to get out a lot more.

SPEAKER_01 6:40

Are you gonna come on the Spanish River this year?

SPEAKER_00 6:42

I'm not gonna commit to anything, but uh you're gonna take a shot at it. Yeah, that would be the goal. That'd be the goal.

SPEAKER_01 6:47

And uh because I know who got the guy that's running the trip. Yeah, he might actually let you come.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Yeah, hopefully. Hopefully he does. Yeah, he gets disappointed when I back out, so I haven't committed for that intentional reason. But uh around that June time, it's always uh it's kind of that, oh I probably could use like a three, four-day break to be kind of ice rate. So that's one of the nice things about the um the ice out trips too. I'll still have cell phone access in the in the eBay and that's in Francia. So not necessarily on the trip on the path when we go paddling, depending on where we

Canoe Sales Seasons And Shop Logistics

SPEAKER_00 7:15

are, but at least when I come back at night. But uh yeah, it's all good. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

So it just a complete side, but how does the how does sales like it be there must be you know peaks and valleys to sales? Does it does it do do sales go up in the winter because people have time and they can do the research and talk about shit?

SPEAKER_00 7:35

And then it's a little different, right? You get the get uh it's slower for sure, especially during that Christmas time, everybody's focused on their families and that. But as soon as that kind of ends, things pick up a little bit, but it's still it's quiet. And and it's yeah, it's a longer drawn-out process. Nobody's in any sort of urgency for a boat. We get some uh American customers that uh they do want their boats faster because they're coming from North Carolina and they can take it back down and use it.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Right.

SPEAKER_00 7:58

So that's cool that way. But um, yeah, and in Canada, as you know, like 99%. I was out paddling a week ago before it got cold. And uh, but I mean most people it's not an urgent sort of reality. If someone's paddling right now, they have boats. Right, true, true. Yeah, but so it gives you time to kind of make sure you get into the right boat, discern things properly, and tricky to test paddle stuff, but you know, come down to our shop. We do have a a new kind of pseudo shop slash larger, large 2,000 square foot storage space that we're using as uh to store a lot of our composite boats and wood gunnel boats and then uh to work out them as well, outfitting and fixing some stuff. But yeah, you were doing uh videos and never think the skid plates, right? Yeah, and all that

The 21 Foot Freighter Canoe Plan

SPEAKER_00 8:40

sort of stuff. So uh yeah, we still do our runs every month out to Quebec and picking up uh skip canoes and some realm stuff. I actually have uh a freighter canoe we ordered this year. It's a 21-foot freighter boat, which is actually their smaller one. They have a 25-footer, which is more popular up in James Bay. Uh uh some indigenous canoes there, but they use them a lot on out on the uh on James Bay.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

But uh so they just call me Italy that's ready, right? So I'm trying to figure that out. Uh I wanted to put it on my roof rack. Like not the not just a car roof rack, but the truck canoe rack. Because it holds 500 pounds and the boat's 350. Um But seems like it'll be better to put it on a boat trailer. But it won't fit on my canoe trailer, it's too big. But I wanted to try to get on the truck so it was a little so I can still tow the trailer and the trip out to export it, right? Yeah, yeah. But uh yeah, so we'll see how that goes. But I'm looking forward to getting that in and getting a motor on it.

SPEAKER_01 9:32

350 pounds.

SPEAKER_00 9:33

Yeah, get some uh some pictures and video. It's a different type of uh canoeer.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Yes, no, I hear you.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Yeah, you're tossing a motor on that bad one. Sweet. Yeah, yeah. It'll be a little bit less organic. I see what you did there. Yeah, yeah. But it should be cool. That'll be cool to get that in and uh see how that goes. Very cool. I'm glad to hear it, man. Well,

Heading Home Before The Dump

SPEAKER_00 9:55

thanks for having us.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. We're we're gonna we're gonna bail because I that's a lot of snow that I've we're gonna have to go back to.

SPEAKER_00 10:03

Yeah, no, good call. Yeah, it's it's a good time. Get get home by the fire, and yeah, and uh you'll probably have some snow to be moving around anyways, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:11

No, I've had guys that we hire to move snow. Yeah, yeah, they don't show up is the issue. So yes, yeah, Toronto will be digging out until Wednesday.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

They need to call the military at this time.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

I had a oh, what did I have? I had a Ford, like a little Ford, tiny little Ford uh uh Ranger or no uh uh a wagon at the time, right? Like the tiny little thing. Yeah, and I was like doo doo do do do do do, and Melaspid's like, bring them in.

SPEAKER_00 10:42

Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

Yeah, why? It's really not that bad. No, everybody's terrified, so they're off the streets. Yeah, easy peasy for me. Exactly, right?

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Yeah, two elephants.

SPEAKER_01 10:54

Yeah, it was it was fine. Yeah, I don't know. We'll see, we'll see what happens, but yeah, welcome to living in Canada, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:00

Exactly. All right, brother.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Yeah, thanks, man. Yeah, always great to see you. You will all right.