Canoe Rigging

[Daniel Madrigal]

Hey everyone I just got my first canoe after having a kayak for many years. It is an Indian River 19 foot double, with a keel. I am wondering about what kind of rigs you all have put on yours. It is fiberglass so I don't want to damage the hull. Anyone want to post pictures and share what kind of things they have done for fishing, photography, storage, and others? Thanks!

[Keith W]

I built a nylon canoe cover and skirt from instructions in Cliff Jacobson's book on Expedition Canoeing, which pretty much makes by boat watertight in rain and rough seas. Also helps a lot in windy weather. It's the best investment I've ever made in my canoe. Vivian had one made for her by Cooke Custom Sewing. You have to drill holes in your hull for the snaps.

[Kim Gass]

19 feet is a loong boat. For two I hope. Fiberglass is the least expensive material and it is eminently repairable and drillable and the heaviest composite usually.  You should have no fear of damaging the hull. If you make a mistake with drilling its easy to fix. If you break the boat its fixable.  Fiberglass is perhaps the easiest hull material to repair.

I use hard sided blue containers for water and blue barrels for food and a pack with my dry bagged items. I have a selection of dry bags.  Sometimes I just stow individual dry bags with their gear below the Cooke Custom Sewing spray cover which helps  streamline the boat for windage and keeps waves and rain out.

 

As far as rigging. I don't otherwise.  Excluding water my gear including food weighs about 70 lbs. I don't carry a cooler.  Why not? Portaging is easier the less stuff is attached to to the boat.  I do have painter lines fore and aft and also midships for tying to chickees in various configurations.

 

I want to keep my camera gear right by my knees, so I use a Pelican box. I do carry a DSLR and three lenses and a tripod. I just velcro the tripod to the thwart in front of me so it does not go overboard.

[Bob Quirk]

Wow 19ft that's big! Are you going to try to solo it? A few things that might work I mounted ball mounts on the thawrt right in front of me. The two large balls I use for Rocket Launcher fishing pole holders and the center one holds my GPS. When I order my Cooke Cover I plan to have a velcro slit over the mounts. I used Gflex epoxy to glue PVC patcheds with D rings to the inside of the hull to tie down my gear. The dry bags also act as floatbags. I got the D rings for 3.95 per at bluefig.net. Viv told me when I got the boat to get a light weight carbon fiber paddle. I thought she was wrong but she as usual was right that thing is worth it's weight in Gold! For a canoe a bent shaft canoe paddle is going to be much more efficient that a kayak paddle. As far as gear???? Kim is right if your going to portage go light and use a duluth type pack basically a dry bag with shoulder straps. But if your not going to portage, and I imagine a carrying a 19 ft fiberglass canoe any distance would be a challenge, then splurge, canoes actually like a bit of weight in them. I do carry a cooler and have cold beer for 4 to 5 days. Hey my cooler is light the ice is 1.5 liter aquafina bottles, frozen water which I need to carry anyway. I also throw in a comfortable camp chair and a roll top table total weight less than 6 lbs. Your sea kayak buddies will drool with envy BTW my canoe is a 17 ft Wanonah Voyager which weighs in at 34 to 36 lbs and has a cargo capacity of about 600 lbs.

[vivian]

Daniel congrats on the canoe!  My canoe is a solo not a tandem but I have added a rod holder, drilled the thwarts to lace bungie cord through also added a foot brace. I would imagine you would also be poling this canoe? MIght want to figure a way to secure a push pole.  Keep it simple and that will also keep the weight low. The biggest investment has been the Cooke cover. I bring it on all my coastal trips and also on long trips in the backcountry when my boat is carrying way too much weight. It can be used reefed so that only the bow and stern areas are covered or full with spray skirt. This I use when the winds are above 20 knots or its real cold.

 

If I was handy with a sewing machine or had the time, I would attempt to make one and you can too.

[Gary M]

Daniel,

 

Congrats... that is actually a sweet looking tandem..but I'm biased as all of my canoes are tandems.  I once used a 21' freighter (fully loaded)  to lead a  group of other paddlers and was surprised at how easy it was to keep up... there are hidden advantages to longer waterlines. My next canoe may be another really large one.... decisions, decisions!

As suggested, you may not actually want to go super-light weight on your packing as you may want to balance and lower the hull for improved performance.  Be prepared to get spoiled by all that capacity... you will be limited only by your imagination on camping trips

One seldom mentioned "rigs" you may want to consider is a quality golf umbrella.... takes no space and weight is negligible, but a real luxury when you want it... for sun, rain or sail.  There are "hurricane proof", non-conducting (lightning!) models for around $50.  Mine is camo color and also does duty as a blind.

[Jay]

Vivian,

Are those snaps mounted on the gunnel?  Or below the gunnel?  Were the snaps riveted or screwed in?

Starting to plan the outfitting of my Voyager.  Not liking the prospects of drilling into the hull....but will do what I have to do.

Thanks.

[vivian]

I did not like drilling the holes either but my canoe is meant to be used and having a spray deck sure helps in high winds and chop to keep water out of the boat.

The holes were drilled at 12 inches apart and below the gunwale. A rivet gun with special V tip helped to attach the brass snaps to the holes. One problem I have each season is the snaps have to be replaced due to corrosion. My boat has a carbon and Kevlar build so do not know if that is the reason. Connie has no problems with her snaps corroding in her Kevlar hull. And I am meticulous about cleaning the boat after saltwater use.

Last month I replaced 5 snaps after my 8 day trip. This time I added some lubricant to the rivet and back of snap before installing. I'll see if it helps.

[Jay]

Thanks. Great info.  You might be having issues with dissimilar metals in the snaps. Have you tried different snaps?

I am trying to find an option that won't require me to drill.  That is a real issue with a wood cored boat.  I have found a deck manufacturer that uses a bungie system that attaches via hooks.  The hooks are normally attached with nuts and bolts - but I can probably make them out of wood and attach them with epoxy.

If anyone else has a good deck manufacturer they want to pass on - I would appreciate it.

Jay

[vivian]

You can use velcro to make partial fore and aft covers. Dan Cooke won't make a full spray deck that includes the spray skirt with velcro. His opinion is that in a capsize the velcro secured deck won't hold and a person wearing the skirt could get wrapped up in all that fabric and drown.  If you look at the Placid Boatworks website they link to the velcro partials they use on their canoes.

Given the experience I have had with versatility of using the deck reefed into partials or full with spray deck cinched to my waist. I prefer the full deck especially when cold and rain conditions prevail. Of course you can always wear a full rain suit and just use the partials to cut wind and help keep your gear bags dry.

[toofaraway]

why not use bungee cords on the canvas and hooks on the hull to fasten the cover?  I can attach a photo of how this is done if that'd be helpful.  Let me know.  You can also do this without drilling through the hull.  Buy a plastic cutting board (different colors available), cut small pieces out and attach those to the hull with 5200.  Then you can screw the bungee hooks onto the plastic.  let me know if a picture would be helpful.the type of bungee hook I'm describing

[Jay]

Thanks for the info. Great lead!  I emailed Sue - "The Bag Lady".  She responded pretty quickly.  Unfortunately with the Velcro system, it requires some bow fitting.  She said that Placid owns the rights to that part of the system so I am out of luck in that regards.

[Jay]

I am leaning to the bungee option.  I will probably make the hooks out of wood and epoxy them to the  hull.

Here is where the Voyager stands. She is all glassed inside and out  I am building up the gunnels this week. (note 4/4 ash board on the floor).

I use my wooden boats.  They are tough as nails.  Sure they get scratched up, nothing that a little sandpaper and some varnish won't clean up.