Canoe cover for epoxy canoe with no gelcoat?

I have a also a lady bag for the mistral. I can not remember it making anymore sound then uncovered. Is saves a lot of dead flies cleaning.
Enjoy the paddling.

Alan Gage said:

Pretty much everyone else at the races did as well. We all traveled with them installed.

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I've always noticed lots of canoe covers on flatwater racing canoes, going back to the 80s when there was a lot of skin coat Kevlar hulls. However, I've rarely seen covers on recreational canoes. Mostly, I've seen them on Tom MacKenzie (Loon Works) wood-canvas canoes in the Freestyle community, which I never quite understood. It seemed like a conformist phenomenon.

Alan Gage said:

It took virtually no time to take them on/off

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Perhaps it's a practice thing, but I find the covers sort of fiddly and a hassle to put on and off just to go local canoeing. I can take my lightweight boats off my car and put them in the garage faster than I can put a canoe cover on or off. Maybe that will be the ultimate answer to my dilemma about getting a cover or not.

gumpus said:

I'd ask Savage River.

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I have. They say what one might expect. If one is just doing day jaunts with cartopped canoes and garaging them between trips, there's probably not much to worry about. But contra if one leaves the canoe cartopped for weeks or months in the sun.

Savage River has custom-made covers for the Illusion made by someone in Florida. These covers are less sophisticated and expensive than RedLeaf covers, but supposedly do the same job. I'll be at Savage River next Friday and will take a look at one.

gumpus said:

It would also be nice to know more about 303 or perhaps Boatguard SPF50

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RBourg said:

I do not find that 303 or other products hold up that long

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I've tried to research 303 on the bottom of a boat and get conflicting answers. I can't find any actual test data, and 303 doesn't make any claims about outdoor or in-water longevity.

I sort of agree with the opinions that it may last a month or so if the hull never touches water, but will wash off pretty quickly once the hull vectors through water. Hence, it's more effective topside on a boat rather than on the hull. I've experienced newly-applied 303 dripping off my canoe hull and onto my windshield when it rains. For maximal preventative UV effect for a cartopped canoe hull, I'm thinking 303 would have to be applied after almost every paddle.

I dunno the cost of those canoe covers, but I bet they're darned inconvenient to put on and take off.
For the cost of a quart of Epifanes, and a couple brushes, you could have years of easy to live with UV protection...just sayin'

stripperguy said:

I dunno the cost of those canoe covers, but I bet they're darned inconvenient to put on and take off.
For the cost of a quart of Epifanes, and a couple brushes, you could have years of easy to live with UV protection...just sayin'

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No way. Not gonna happen. The only tools Glenn owns are a tractor, machetes, and a shotgun. If he can't get it done with them then it ain't gettin' done.

Alan

Glenn MacGrady said:

Perhaps it's a practice thing, but I find the covers sort of fiddly and a hassle to put on and off just to go local canoeing. I can take my lightweight boats off my car and put them in the garage faster than I can put a canoe cover on or off.

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I'm sure the technique of installing them is nothing new to you but I didn't find it any more difficult or time consuming than the video shows. Certainly less work than uninstalling and re-installing the canoe on the car. I'm not saying everyone should rush out and get one (the only one I've ever had came with a used racing canoe I bought) but in your application, for a variety of reasons (UV protection, reducing heat buildup, looking less flashy to potential thieves), I think it would be a good idea if you intend to leave the canoe on the vehicle.

For what it's worth: Some of the older Savage River boats seemed prone to UV damage if not kept covered. Several years ago they changed to a different epoxy resin and the problem, at least as it appears to me, has been resolved. My current Illusion has spent a lot of time in the Florida sun and shows no visible signs of UV damage. That having been said, I can't disagree with several of the earlier comments, that getting an opinion from Ben or John at Savage River would be a good idea and even better might be contacting the mfg. of whatever epoxy they are currently using. I'm sure Ben or John will be happy to share that information.

Alan Gage said:

Apart from UV protection the covers also provided insect protection. No one wants to scrub dead bugs off their hull before a race.

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dutchlennart said:

Is saves a lot of dead flies cleaning.

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Well, don't the bugs then end up squashed all over the cover? Isn't bug goo easier to clean off a hull than off a fabric?

The bug argument convinces me naught. I've cartopped dozens of canoes for tens of thousands of miles all over North America for the past 50 years without canoe covers, and don't recall any troublesome insect encrustations.

Alan Gage said:

I'm sure the technique of installing them is nothing new to you but I didn't find it any more difficult or time consuming than the video shows. Certainly less work than uninstalling and re-installing the canoe on the car.

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Good video. Thanks. Jeremy Vore is an expert. I think I can undo two straps and take the canoe off my sedan a bit faster than I can get a cover on. Not so with my full-size van, for which I need to use a step ladder. But this is a minor quibble. I'm retired, for goodness sake. I can afford a few minutes of time. Hence, I hereby ditch any time consumption argument for or against canoe covers.

stripperguy said:

For the cost of a quart of Epifanes, and a couple brushes, you could have years of easy to live with UV protection...just sayin'

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Yeah, but three coats of varnish will surely take the canoe over 22, 23 and probably 24 pounds. That's much better, of course, than a . . . uh . . . 5-8 pound canoe cover! Yikes, I bankrupted my estate to buy a canoe I can lift easily . . . only to consider spending even more money to put back a bunch of weight!!!

This thread has been very helpful to my few remaining cerebral cells. I'm coming closer to a conclusion re solar infusion of my Illusion.

UV degradation is a real problem. Especially for a canoe that has no gel coat, is colored black and is going to outside in the sun a lot of the time. Its not a beater, it is your prized possession.

I would rethink leaving it on your car. That is hard on boats structurally because they need to be tied down. They have minimal support. If you have a nice light canoe, figure out a way to put it on a rack near your car and cover it when not in use.

I built a stitch and glue kayak out of African mahogany plywood and epoxy. The epoxy was absolutely susceptible to UV degradation. I varnished the epoxy and painted the hull for sun protection. It is possible that you can coat your canoe with quality varnish that will protect it from UV light. I would still store it under cover on a rack and not on my vehicle.

Marc Ornstein said:

Some of the older Savage River boats seemed prone to UV damage if not kept covered. Several years ago they changed to a different epoxy resin and the problem, at least as it appears to me, has been resolved. My current Illusion has spent a lot of time in the Florida sun and shows no visible signs of UV damage.

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Marc, last fall Savage River had one of your early comp Illusions for sale. It had a UV blocking clear coat on it, which is now a $500 option that adds a pound of weight. (It sounds like Swift's "UV shield".) I passed on that option. I wonder if your current Illusion has that clear coat, which would be quite relevant to your experience of no UV damage.

I'll be at Savage River next Friday and Saturday. I'll ask about whether your current canoe has the clear coat, in addition to discussing their epoxy and looking at the Illusion canoe covers.

Glenn MacGrady said:

Yikes, I bankrupted my estate to buy a canoe I can lift easily

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Yeah... CTN is great for that. Makes me glad I've never tried golf.

Glenn, just to put things into my perspective, I recently bought a new cover for a boat I only paid 500 bucks for, but I still feel as though it was a worthy investment. I didn't get the upgraded fabric, but if my boat stayed on my vehicle for days or weeks at a time I think the upgraded fabric would be a worthy expense.

Cleaning flies in a composti boat i always could hanlde. Finding them on each rib taking the better part of 3 hrs. Convinced me..and if it saves me for taking care of the hull for a couple of years extra . I am in.