Thinking about it, and looking on the racks, nearly all of our canoes have attachment points for float bags, which double as tie points for packs or barrels on trips. I don’t paddle much whitewater, nor usually tie in gear other than a webbing strap across the don’t-want-to-go-hungry food barrel, but when I do I want easily accessible attachment points.
Only one canoe, the Mohawk Odyssey, has bags and lacing left in place full time. The reason for that is in part because it’s easier to have one canoe with float bags ready to go at a moment’s notice, and in larger part because that canoe came used with (factory) drilled through hull lacing and bags, and is/would be a PITA to unlace and re-lace if I wanted no bag & no lacing. All of the other canoes have easier attachment points.
Cathy, one more hint if you are lacing and unlacing float bag cord. If, like me, you have an assortment of cord and line and rope it helps to put the removed float bag lacing in a Zip-lock and Sharpie the bag “Prospector center bag” or “End bags”, etc.
Cutting new cord sized to the perfect lacing length when you know you already have a piece you removed, stored somewhere, sounds like something I would do. Done did. That becomes even more confusing if you have multiple canoes and different sized float bags & lacing that you remove and reinstall as needed.
Make that two hints. If you have not used float bags before be aware of over inflation with bags in the canoe; on the water, on the storage racks or on the car.
On hot days the bags will swell, enough that the bags will be bulging against the lacing or pulling hard at the D-rings. I’ve read one tale of a guy who left float bags in his canoe on his car for a couple hot sunny summer days; the over-inflation ripped the D-ring pads off the bottom of the canoe and, Royalex canoe, took some vinyl skin with them. It was at least proof of proper adhesive.
With bag installed I often let a little air out when/before the bag begins to swell alarmingly, sometimes partway through a hot summer day on the water. With the Mohawk Odyssey I let a little air out before I put it back on the outside rack, just to be on the safe side.
Eh, threefour hints. When outfitting canoes I check to make sure that there is nothing sharp or pointy in the hull that might puncture a bag, especially when it becomes over inflated, or is left in place on long highway drives where the 70mph windage might flap it around. Likewise for the force of the water pooching bags inverted upwards in a capsize.
Towards that no-sharps the shank ends of machine screws all get thread protectors or cap nuts (under the webbing loops, hint hint)
I am somewhat leery of making long highway drives with float bags already in the hull. That may be overly cautious; I’ve done 9 hour interstate drives with bags left in the Odyssey. I do check them at gas stops, found them mid-day well-swelled bulbous, and let a bit of air out. I often start long drives well before dawn; by afternoon the temperature and sun exposure may have changed considerably.
In lengthy travel with our other canoes I’ll install the lacing at home and use a high volume low pressure 12V air pump off the truck in inflate the bags at my destination, tucking them in place under the lacing and attaching the end lines to the D-rings.
Quality floatation bags are not cheap (or available like beef jerky at backwoods country stores) and arriving somewhere distant to discover the bag was damaged/holed/deflated in transport would be disconcertingly problematic.
