I have a couple new carbon/Kevlar canoes arriving shortly and will need to store them outdoors. What is the best material to protect them from sun, rain and snow? I would love to have something with an elastic or draw string to make it easier to install, but that isn’t a requirement.
Thanks
Amazon sells expensive canoe covers but they also sell white tarps. White mitigates the solar oven effect. Personally I’d set up something like a pup tent on a canoe rack, but if you have a wall available you can just hang the tarp from the wall like a lean-to and attach weights to the bottom corners.
No wall right now. Current storage for my fiberglass canoe is on two brackets mounted to two trees in my back yard, with no cover.
Until spring, these will likely go in the same place. The smaller one (a wee lassie) may find a home in my garage, but I’m not sure about that yet.
What is expensive? I looked on Amazon and am seeing stuff around or under $50, but I can be hard to sift through the crap.
I would have no problem spending $100 each for something good quality that is easy to install and remove
You are onto something here…
While they may be more than you want to spend, the best covers out there are from The Bag Lady. While Sue has retired, the business has been picked up by Jeremy Vore and family and moved to Michigan. You can find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thebagladycanoecovers/ or at their website https://redleafdesigns.com/
I guarantee they are way better quality than anything you’ll find on Amazon.
This is what I was looking for! The $100 number was to just start the conversation, not a budget. The two canoes are costing over $5k, so a few hundred for quality covers is worth it, IMO. I’ll do some looking on their site.
If anyone has more suggestions, please share.
I was looking at bulk sunbrella material to get an idea on costs, and even that would. Be over $200 for the fabric for one canoe, plus the labor and elastic
In my boat building days a friend had made a beautiful strip built kayak and hung it on his den wall. My wife informed me that no boats would hang on ours. I did manage to get a couple of paddles up there.
One of the boats is for my wife, so maybe that would fly…
It’s pretty, but not cedar strip pretty though
Good luck!
I second the Bag Lady covers. Jeremy made one for my Tiderace sea kayak and it is a thing of beauty. My kayak is stored on a mostly covered rack at a friends place and the cover keeps it protected from sun, mud splashes and assorted critter poop. The covers wash very well too.
Third + for the Bag Lady.
That cover with the red bag attached that most sell is pretty much junk if you decide to use it on a roof rack. Poor fit and will rip itself apart in the wind.
Thanks. I wasn’t really thinking about using it on a roof rack originally, but after seeing the bag lady covers, that might change. Would be nice for the longer drives
Use on my kayaks with few bungees. Many colors and qualities. I use heavy silver poly. I use 6’x 20’ and fold them. Reverse folds as they age last 4 years or more in direct sun all day.
Having something that doesn’t breathe makes me nervous. I go at least a week between paddles and my canoes sit in the sun otherwise. Any mold/mildew issues with yours?
Tarps are OK on plastic boats. They can cause blistering of the gelcoat on composites.
The Danuu covers are OK for storage only - I use one for my little Dagger that lives at the marina. I don’t expect it to last longer than a couple of years in the Florida sun though.
Another cover maker is The Midnight Seamstress (Blanche) at www.midnight-seamstress.com. She is in Canton NY. She made a good cover for my new GRB Classic XL.
