Outfitting your canoe? Any tips?

[Hanz]

How do you outfit your canoe? Do you make any modifications?

I've already drilled some holes in the thwarts and rigged up some shock cording and "push button" lashings in one of mine. I'd like to see what others do to make the canoe a little more user/tripping friendly.

What I have done:


image by Hansen.Dougie, on Flickr


image by Hansen.Dougie, on Flickr


Untitled by Hansen.Dougie, on Flickr

What do you do?

 

[oldie moldy]

Hanz, Not really a modification to the canoe but I made a "rescue the canoe bag/rope" set up. Trying to do a realistic appraisal of just what I'm capable of if my canoe and I part company: with a little luck I'll be able to get to shore. And that's dandy as far as it goes but that's a pretty expensive canoe to leave there floating alone.






The idea is that I'll grab the bag and deploy the line out as I splash to shore and then tug the canoe over to me. The line might look a little large but with limited testing I've found that with chilled hands that's the smallest I can grip at all well. Most of the time we try to stay near the shore.

Best Wishes, Rob


ps: why is this last bit coming out in blue??? Did we run out of black ink?

 

[Guest]

Last bit is hyperlinked (that is why it is blue).

 

[Seeker]

In my homemade Eureka 155 (I made it a 145), I drilled a series of 3 or 4 holes in the inner thwarts near the middle of the canoe, ran some 1/4" rope through them, and can use them to tie my gear in. Don't have any pics. The decks/bow knees of both my Eureka and my Old Town Yankee have a small hole bored in them, to feed a 1/4" painter through. You have a bar, so you won't need to do that. I also glued in some kneeling pads in my Eureka. That's about as fancy as it gets for me.

 

[memaquay]

Geeze, those are some pretty snazzy looking gunwales! What are those canoes?

 

[Guest]

Those are carbon/Kevlar infused gunwales. Fabric over foam... the latest rage in light weight.

I believe those are Swift versions.

 

[Hanz]

Thanks for the ideas. I do use painters that float so my plan is to grab one of those if I'm swimming.

Memaquay - My canoe is a Swift Keewaydin 15 with the Carbon Kevlar Trim. The gunwales are infused and built into the hull. They do look snazzy.

I don't know what canoe Oldie Moldy has but I like the wood trim.

 

[Hanz]

Those are carbon/Kevlar infused gunwales. Fabric over foam... the latest rage in light weight.

I believe those are Swift versions.

You nailed mine for sure. I type too slow.

 

[oldie moldy]

Mine's a Swift Prospector in guide-confusion, fusion something. Supposed to be made strong for dolts.
I did think about towing the canoe by the painter but given most all the water I'm on is cold or colder I decided the first priority ought to be to get me out of it quickly. For me at least, I'm amazed how rapidly my body heat bleeds off and I become a fumble bum grading over to a door stop.
I must admit to a little bit of pride when someone quizzes me on going solo, but there is a grimmer side to it given that there is no help if something goes wrong. So by and large I play it very conservative.

Hanz, I like the way you've placed the cords to hold the paddles, handy and ready to hand; those two cords with the squeeze keepers, are they to hold the grip end of the paddle? The reason I ask is I wonder if you needed the paddle right now, can it be pulled free or do you need to release it by squeezing them?

Best Wishes, Rob

 

[Robin]

Isn't that an Oldie Moldy leather deck with neat imprint in picture 2 in post #2

Also, in the OP, picture 2 I see some LLBean boots and is that the edge of a canvas pack on the left? Nice single blade wood paddle 2, Beautiful canoes (I checked some of your Flicker albums, nice pictures), looks like a nice set up.

Since I only have wood canvas canoes anymore, I don't do much except tie a rope too the forward thwart and add a couple of home made bolt on carry pads to the center thwart. I do have a neat paddle tether given to me by my good friend Gerald which does a nice job of keeping my spare paddle with the canoe. I also add my little packbasket beverage holder (http://www.canoetripping.net/forums/showthread.php?353-Packbasket-Lady) for my more relaxed trips.
On Canadian trips I tie in my 50 meters of floating rope with a home made bailing scoop.

I saw a friend (DougD, a memeber here) tie a basket ball hoop net into that space in his seat frame between the seat and gunnels, great little place to store stuff for handy access.

 

[Mihun09]

When I get home tonight I will post pics of one of the first infused gunnel Swift boats, they have improved over the years for sure. Mine was one of the first out of the mold.

 

[Hanz]

Rob,
Yes, that's exactly what they are for. They hold my paddles (I always have two) in place when I carry. I release the squeeze keepers after I get the canoe in the water so I can quickly access the other paddle if I need to. I also can't forget to do it because I have to release the paddle I immediately want to use, so that's always helpful.

Nothing wrong with the conservative approach. I still have to go and take my canoe for a swim so I have some experience with it swamped under good conditions. It should help for when things go sideways. I'll probably end up copying your rope rescue bag after that.

 

[Hanz]

Robin, I think the badge on Oldie Moldy's end cap is the Swift Canoe leaning trees emblem but I can't say for sure.

Thank you for the compliments. I do enjoy trying to capture and share what I see. I bought the Swift Raven because Royalex production is rumored to end.

Those are Bean Boots (I walk my dog in them daily - dog poop doesn't stick to them ;-) ) The canvas is a drop cloth. I despise plastic drop cloths, they don't stay put and they don't absorb drips. I wasn't satisfied with the amount of spar urethane on the Keewaydin's Cherry so I added another couple of coats before drilling the holes. I also urethaned the holes themselves, the drop cloth kept the canoe clean.

The baskets are neat ideas. I sometimes use the top pocket op my rucksack as a "glove box" for the canoe.

 

[oldie moldy]

Robin, Hanz is right, that's the way it came. (I hope you didn't make any more bets with your wife) Those end caps; right near the end they have a little hole, for the life of me I couldn't tell what the hole was for, if anything. Well, after cogitating for several days I came up with a plan:
Made two little wooden caps, look something like mushroom heads, drilled and tapped down the center for a brass screw. Absolutely soaked the wood, especially the end grain, in that very liquid super glue. Once the glue had set up I screwed the thing down into the hole, so now where the hole was I've got this little semi-round wooden cap.
Now, not always am I graceful when I roll the canoe up on my shoulders, sometimes I bonk one end or the other down on the ground, as it is now, the little wooden cap takes the blow, leaving that end cap undamaged. That super glue in the wood makes it awfully strong but if it ever gives way I'll just replace it with another.

Best Wishes,

Rob

 

[sweeper]

A great 'glove box' is
from Duluth Pack http://duluthpack.com/outdoor-gear/canoe-kayak/canoe-accessories/thwart-bag-model-i.html

 

[memaquay]

Gosh, I've got Gunwale Envy! When I retire, I might buy one of those fancy lightweight canoes. Think I'm going to build a new raven this year, try to get it down to 40 pounds.

 

[scoutergriz]

those holes are drain holes for storage, when the canoe is upside down they prevent the caps from holding water and rotting out

 

[oldie moldy]

Thanks Scout! I never would have guessed it. Although, it would take a second flood to get to my canoe where it's stored, I went out and removed the caps just in case. Better safe than sorry. I'll screw them in when I use it.

Best Wishes, Rob

 

[Mihun09]

So, I have a Swift Mattawa that was built in 2007, Kevlar Fusion, and was one of the first with the new gunwales. It has character, or, is fugly, depending on your ideals, but Swift themselves admitted it was one of the prototypes for this new system. It appears they had difficulty getting it off the mold based on certain flaws, lol. Of note too, mine doesn't have the flotation tanks and the new ones all have them.

Other than that, I dropped the seats, removed the bow sliding seat, replaced those rails with new cherry ones then screwed the seat in place. I didn't like how the slider would move during travel and it squeaked as well. I've tried to avoid drilling new holes in the gunwales since it is foam wrapped and I don't wish to potentially weaken them with more holes. Next year it will get new seats, I make my own contoured seats which have a larger butt area and are far more comfortable so it will get a pair of new ones. It still only weighs 40 pounds.

Considering the Mattawa was designed for medium sized paddlers and Christine and I are not that, we have thought of getting a Kipawa, but I lack the funds for a second composite boat and do have a whole bunch of wood canvas canoes to choose from down the road. I might be able to do a straight swap of the Mattawa for a Kip, but I really like the uniqueness of this one.

 

[oldie moldy]

Hi Mihun09, A little time ago the surface of my gunnels started looking frizzy-fuzzy, dry and almost like the surface material was thinking about coming up. That didn't seem like anything I'd want so I painted on carefully some top quality valspar varnish. It seems to have done the trick, now it looks like a well oiled snake. Usually in the spring I'll scout out any damaged places and with a Q-tip, put on a little more varnish on the spot.

Best Wishes,

Rob