I'm looking at a 17' NC Prospector that come equipped with a spray cover (North Water I think). Anyone use one? Care to comment on their use?
For my short 1-3 night canoe trips, a spray cover just looks like it would be a bit of a nuisance. I think i'd feel claustrophobic trapped in the seat
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Spray covers are a bit of a nuisance, both putting them on and, more especially, taking them off to access gear. Northwater and Cooke use very different systems, and each system has pluses and minuses.
I am not a fan of being sealed up in a body hugging spray skirt. If it is cold or rainy I am dressed for the conditions, and what I have gained by having my lower body sealed up weatherproof doesn’t come close to offsetting the awkwardness of getting in and out of the canoe. Or of accessing gear, whether unloading or simply grabbing something while underway.
Dan Cooke made me partial covers for two of our tripping canoes (soloized Penobscot and Wenonah Wilderness). Those are bow and stern covers that leave a large open “cockpit” that allows room for a utility sail thwart in front and space behind the seat to store/access convenient gear while underway.
Dan designed those partial covers with a flap of fabric incorporating a sewn-in foam stay that pops up like a splash screen when the covers are snapped in place. Those partials cover more than half of the open space between the gunwales, and so shed much of the rain and most of the wave splash.
CCS sends a piece of transparent mylar large enough to cover the canoe and instructions for fitting it over the gunwales and marking desired locations for snaps, paddle pockets, lash tabs and other accessory options. I added two extra Velcro paddle shaft straps so that I could secure all of the usual suspects on the bow cover; double blade, single blade, furled sail.
For my purposes those partial covers are exactly what I wanted. On trips with awkward landings or hard to access campsites I sometimes use only the bow portion. That front cover helps cut oppositional wind (my body blocks most of the stern opening), shades my food barrel so my chocolate doesn’t melt, UV protects feet and ankles and, most importantly, provides a place to secure paddles and sail. At really tough landings being able to secure the paddle in seconds and jump out is beyond advantageous, it’s dang near a safety issue.
Using the bow cover alone provides some rain and haystack splash protection, and paddle drips from a double blade or sit and switching transfer roll off the cover instead of into the canoe. Or onto my feet and then into the canoe.
At tough landings I can unload the stern without cover occlusion and then manipulate a now-lighter canoe to unsnap the bow cover and disgorge the gear below. The heaviest piece, the (shaded) blue food barrel, is nearest to center and I can get it out with two unsnaps, and with a little reach-under even the gear furthest in the stems doesn’t require undoing all of the snaps.
More often I use both bow and stern covers. If I find myself at a really awkward site landing I will just load the canoe, paddle downstream until I find a coble bar or sand bank and then install the covers. Although if the next landing is of unknown accessibility I may have screwed the pooch again.
Using just the bow cover has it’s advantages.
When using both bow and stern partial covers it occurred to me that I needed only one more simple piece to fully cover the open hull area while in camp, and Dan made me the piece to snap in place.
That small storage cover piece works like a charm and allows me to keep all of the paddling gear dry and secure in the canoe. That is a huge boon, especially if camp is a quarter mile from the landing or I am base camped and day paddling. I had a sail stolen from a boat at a populated site, and having the sail, paddles, PFD (oh my, what a nice unattended knife on that lash tab….I may have had a knife stolen from the canoe as well), compass, map case and other paddling gear hidden from prying eyes is a comfort.
All of which is to say that canoe covers require considerable design forethought.
I am a big fan of covers, given an honest assessment of how and where I would likely use them. Full or partial covers, snaps (Cooke) or hooks (Northwater), Poly (Northwater) or Nylon (Cooke). Gear portal openings, one, two or three piece covers? Cooke and Northwater offer a variety of designs, options and accessories.
http://www.cookecustomsewing.com/canoecovers.htm#
http://northwater.com/products/canoe-spray-deck
Sewing-skilled DIY folks could look at the differences and multiplicity of options on those proven designs and customize a cover according to their desires. I just talk to Dan in the off-season about what I have in mind and listen to his advice.
Northwater may be just as helpful; I’ve never used one of their covers.
