We are headed up to paddle the Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest
Territories. The sources that I have found are consistent in
recommending a spray cover for the canoes on the Nahanni.

The boat belongs to my partner, but she doesn't want to spend the money
for a commercial spray cover, so I was going to make one.

Jacobsen in his book, Expedition Canoing, has plans for spray covers,
including a couple of variations. I was going to follow his
instructions, with some minor variations.

The issue at hand is how to fasten the spray cover to the canoe. As far
as I can tell, most of the commercial spray covers use snaps. Jacobsen
says snaps. However, a friend of my partner has told her that snaps are
awful and should be avoided.

Anyone with experience with canoe spray covers? How was your cover
attached to your boat? How did it work out? Anything else I should know?

Richard



--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals

First, check with soume of the outfitters and guides in that region
first - see if you can hire a canoe for your trip. Might be cheaper
than bringing one up, at least according to friends who got there regularly.
Beyond that, snaps. And if she just can't handle snaps, velcro. The
adhesive backed stuff is OK, contact cementing it on is better. Make
sure the cover is in sections so that you can escape the cover if you
flip. Full covers - even sectioned ones are *dangerous* if you go
swimming. First rule - don't panic. When you exit the boat, make sure
the cover is completely disengaged from you.

Marsh
New Brighton, MN

Richard Ferguson wrote:
We are headed up to paddle the Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest
Territories. The sources that I have found are consistent in
recommending a spray cover for the canoes on the Nahanni.

The boat belongs to my partner, but she doesn't want to spend the money
for a commercial spray cover, so I was going to make one.

Jacobsen in his book, Expedition Canoing, has plans for spray covers,
including a couple of variations. I was going to follow his
instructions, with some minor variations.

The issue at hand is how to fasten the spray cover to the canoe. As far
as I can tell, most of the commercial spray covers use snaps. Jacobsen
says snaps. However, a friend of my partner has told her that snaps are
awful and should be avoided.

Anyone with experience with canoe spray covers? How was your cover
attached to your boat? How did it work out? Anything else I should know?

Richard

Our Canadian neighbors seem to like spray covers a lot. The name
may be unfortunate. The canoe cover has benefit in keeping you warm
and reducing wind, but very little benefit in keeping you afloat, and
perhaps an added hazard if you go swimming.
I sewed a 3 piece cover from urethane-coated tent-bottom fabric
for a 17 foot Blue Hole essentially by Jacobsen's instructions. I
used automotive-type nickel plated snap fasteners, and they work.
Sew the entire cover, then stretch it over the canoe and make the
places the snaps go. Drill holes and put the male end on the hull.
Use the anvil and set the female end in the cover. Check your fit
every 2 or 3 snaps, and make sure it is tight.
Still have the boat and the cover in the basement though I have
done a dozen trips more recently without it. If I do a barren
grounds trip, I'll have a cover, but not on a whitewater river trip.
This advise is worth what you paid for it. Good luck, Tom McCloud


On Mon, 10 Apr 2006 23:27:26 GMT, Richard Ferguson
wrote:

We are headed up to paddle the Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest
Territories. The sources that I have found are consistent in
recommending a spray cover for the canoes on the Nahanni.

The boat belongs to my partner, but she doesn't want to spend the money
for a commercial spray cover, so I was going to make one.

Jacobsen in his book, Expedition Canoing, has plans for spray covers,
including a couple of variations. I was going to follow his
instructions, with some minor variations.

The issue at hand is how to fasten the spray cover to the canoe. As far
as I can tell, most of the commercial spray covers use snaps. Jacobsen
says snaps. However, a friend of my partner has told her that snaps are
awful and should be avoided.

Anyone with experience with canoe spray covers? How was your cover
attached to your boat? How did it work out? Anything else I should know?

Richard

On 10-Apr-2006, wrote:

There are some fair sized
rollers in the lower canyons, but they were easily avoided when we were
there.

There's a lot of variation in what the Nahanni can throw at you depending on
water levels. I would not recommend skipping a cover in the lower canyons
unless you plan on portaging. Two weeks before I paddled the Nahanni, the
water level in the lower canyons was about 15 feet higher than when I was there.
That's pretty extreme, but that's what kind of changes can happen over a
relatively short period of time.

Tandy Leather has the snaps.

Some canoes use a webbing strap run all round the canoe about 4-6 inches
below the gunnel. Webbing straps on the cover run under this strap and
back up to a ladderlock to tighten. More complicated to outfit the canoe initially,
but the end result is more reliable than snaps and easier to put the cover on if
it's tight.

A properly designed and installed cover is pretty waterproof - the only place
for the water to get in is the opening for the paddler. They are not much of
a risk for entrapment.

Mike

On 10-Apr-2006, Marsh Jones wrote:

And if she just can't handle snaps, velcro.

I'd like to see how many seconds a velcroed spray cover would last
in whitewater.

Make
sure the cover is in sections so that you can escape the cover if you
flip.

Have you ever been in one? A one piece cover is not difficult to get
out of. How would sections make it any easier?

Mike

I have made several. I used both Jacobsen's and Bill Mason's books as
guides. Velcro does not work. I have used Stainless Steel snaps successfully
and have seen canoes with loops protruding through the hull as effective
also. I like a single piece with kayak style cockpits. Make sure you build
in a lot of slack for stretch/shrink. Nylon can stretch up to 30% when wet.
This means that your 3' foot wide cover can be 10" short after its first
wet/dry cycle. Hence the popularity of loops as attachments.

I also have paddled the Nahanni from the Moose Ponds and would consider a
cover a necessity. You might want to see if you can find a copy of my video,
"Nahanni - Canada's Gift to the World," at your local library.

Sincerely,
Carey Robson
www.CanoeBC.ca

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
We are headed up to paddle the Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest
Territories. The sources that I have found are consistent in
recommending a spray cover for the canoes on the Nahanni.

The boat belongs to my partner, but she doesn't want to spend the money
for a commercial spray cover, so I was going to make one.

Jacobsen in his book, Expedition Canoing, has plans for spray covers,
including a couple of variations. I was going to follow his
instructions, with some minor variations.

The issue at hand is how to fasten the spray cover to the canoe. As far
as I can tell, most of the commercial spray covers use snaps. Jacobsen
says snaps. However, a friend of my partner has told her that snaps are
awful and should be avoided.

Anyone with experience with canoe spray covers? How was your cover
attached to your boat? How did it work out? Anything else I should know?

Richard



--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals

On 11-Apr-2006, "Carey Robson" wrote:

Make sure you build
in a lot of slack for stretch/shrink. Nylon can stretch up to 30% when wet.

Or use polyester, which does not change shape as much when wet. Coated
polyesters can be harder to find, though.

Mike

What about Goretex, is it more dimensionally stable than Nylon?

Richard



Carey Robson wrote:
I have made several. I used both Jacobsen's and Bill Mason's books as
guides. Velcro does not work. I have used Stainless Steel snaps successfully
and have seen canoes with loops protruding through the hull as effective
also. I like a single piece with kayak style cockpits. Make sure you build
in a lot of slack for stretch/shrink. Nylon can stretch up to 30% when wet.
This means that your 3' foot wide cover can be 10" short after its first
wet/dry cycle. Hence the popularity of loops as attachments.

I also have paddled the Nahanni from the Moose Ponds and would consider a
cover a necessity. You might want to see if you can find a copy of my video,
"Nahanni - Canada's Gift to the World," at your local library.

Sincerely,
Carey Robson
www.CanoeBC.ca

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...

We are headed up to paddle the Nahanni River in Canada's Northwest
Territories. The sources that I have found are consistent in
recommending a spray cover for the canoes on the Nahanni.

The boat belongs to my partner, but she doesn't want to spend the money
for a commercial spray cover, so I was going to make one.

Jacobsen in his book, Expedition Canoing, has plans for spray covers,
including a couple of variations. I was going to follow his
instructions, with some minor variations.

The issue at hand is how to fasten the spray cover to the canoe. As far
as I can tell, most of the commercial spray covers use snaps. Jacobsen
says snaps. However, a friend of my partner has told her that snaps are
awful and should be avoided.

Anyone with experience with canoe spray covers? How was your cover
attached to your boat? How did it work out? Anything else I should know?

Richard



--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals





--
http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals

On 11-Apr-2006, Richard Ferguson wrote:

What about Goretex, is it more dimensionally stable than Nylon?

GoreTex is a coating laminated to a fabric. The fabric can be nylon, polyester,
acrylic, anything.

GoreTex laminates are rarely applied to a heavy material - most are light to medium
weight fabrics. If you want a canoe cover that is likely to last (or have some resale
value if you no longer need it) then you will want a heavier fabric. I DAGS and found
one supplier that uses 6.5 oz polyester fabric. You can probably use that as a starting
point.

Mike