Wood Song Canoes was established in 1988 When Philip A. Greene crafted his first canoe. While serving as a sonarman on U.S. nuclear powered submarines, Philip spent much of his leisure time building canoes. He used his Navy salary to fund the research and development of what were to become the world's most exquisite wooden canoes. Their heightened level of artistry, beauty, and function was attained through many years of frustrating lessons. With trial and error as his headmasters, Philip considers himself primarily self taught. With a critical eye he would go over every minute detail on a newly finished canoe, searching diligently for any flaws. When discrepancies were discovered, great care was taken to determine their causes. Ideas for possible solutions would be discussed and after choosing the best idea, it would be incorporated into the building process on subsequent hulls. This method of striving for perfection has worked well. Each completed hull featured improvements over it's predecessors, thereby raising the bar of standards for future canoes.

Philip was never quite satisfied with the standards that many other builders in the industry considered being the status quo. His philosophy has always been that, "In order to achieve perfection, an artist must be willing to scrutinize and criticize their own best work, even if others can find no fault."

Delivery

As with all fine art, fashioned by the hands of the finest artist, the demand for our canoes and paddles far surpasses our production capabilities. Often our waiting list is long; filled by clients who understand that our kind of work is the kind worth waiting for. Every canoe and paddle is individually crafted in an atmosphere where schedules and deadlines are not allowed to interfere with quality. Sometimes this results in our work taking longer to complete than estimated. Our policy is to never guarantee a completion date, as this would adversely affect the quality of our work. Actual hands on building time for our best paddle can exceed 40 hours. Our canoes, however, command much more time, consuming anywhere from 1,100 hours for a mahogany solo and up to 2,000 hours for a Limited Edition tandem made of ebony.

Deposit

To guarantee our current prices and reserve a place on our waiting list, we require a nonrefundable deposit on both paddles and canoes. $150.00 is required as a paddle commission deposit. The deposit for canoes can vary. $10,000 is required for our mahogany or cedar Standard Premium canoes, while $15,000, $20,000 or $25,000 is required for our Limited Edition series. The remaining balance is divided into 5 equal draw payments scheduled to be paid during construction, with the final draw due at the time of delivery.

Functional Art

Looking at our craftsmanship usually evokes a common theme, "it's too pretty to put in the water." While we build all our canoes and paddles to be completely and wonderfully functional, we acknowledge that many of our canoes and almost all our paddles are purchased primarily for decorative purposes. To assist you with your display ideas we offer display cradles and hangers for canoes and paddles. Some customers have felt a little embarrassment when purchasing a paddle they didn't intend to use. Building a display hanger is our way of saying, "We understand." We gladly accept the displaying of our work as the sincerest form of compliment.

Personal Service

For customers interested in ordering a paddle or canoe in person, we offer an invitation to come and see us at our studio in Round O. We are  located 15 minutes from Walterboro, SC and Interstate 95. We request that you call ahead to schedule your visit, to ensure we are in the studio. If you are thinking of building your own canoe or paddle, and would like to see our operation, please check out the "Apprentice and Training" page.