Thanks @sailwings . How is the material holding up? Her prices looks good
Thanks. I think I’ve decided to get fitted covers.
Have a canvas shop make them out of sunbrella last ten years plus.
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It will cost more than just ordering one from one of the vendors listed here already plus lack the convenience of ordering from someone they has experience with sizing for canoes. Thanks for the suggestion though
for the folks using fitted covers, do you use them in transport? straps over the cover?
I don’t use mine for transport since most of my trips are short, and paddling in saltwater I’d want to wash the boat off before putting the cover back on anyway. That said the Bag Lady cover is designed for travel and I see no reason why it wouldn’t do very well for that purpose. The material is both heavy and stretchy enough that I highly doubt it would move at all.
Can you expand on tarps causing blistering on composite kayaks? Is it the material or that they hold heat? My kayaks are stored on a rack outdoors that is covered by a tarp. Tarp has no direct contact with the kayak and are open at the ends. For winter storage we wrap the kayaks in 6 mil plastic, mostly to keep the chipmunks off the kayaks. We remove the plastic in kayaking season from April to October but keep the tarp over the racks to protect the kayaks from sun, etc. My guess is the set up is OK. Any thoughts?
Tarps aren’t breathable and can hold moisture against the gelcoat which can cause blisters. So a tarp that isn’t touching the kayak is definitely OK. It’s not a super common problem but can happen - which is why I like to mention it. Google osmotic blistering and you’ll see what can happen - much more common in large boats that stay in the water for long periods of time but I have seen one blistered kayak as well.
I was emailing with Blanche yesterday and am going to have her make a couple covers. She doesn’t have a template for the larger canoe, but offered to swing by slipstream to measure
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Yes, that. A couple of months ago I posted a couple of pictures of a car heading northbound on 95 in southern Maine with a couple of kayaks on the roof, and the kayak covers looking like huge spinnaker sails (facing the wrong way, of course).
Thread here
Thanks again. Blanche measured up both canoes and is making covers for both as well as a bag for my wife’s paddle.
Looking forward to getting them and the canoes
I hope the covers work out well. Blanche is a good person to work with.
Regards,
Steve
You need pressure for osmosis and it doesn’t happen below a tarp.
You need an osmotic gradient, physical pressure actually has nothing to do with it. A solvent (in this case water) will move across a semipermeable membrane towards the side with higher solute concentration. In boats, there can be small pockets of resin that act as the solute and cause water to migrate across the semipermeable membrane of the gel coat, forming a blister. There just needs to be moisture held against the gel coat for this to happen. Proper layup of the fabric and resin can help prevent this, as well as the use of vinylester resin or epoxy which is much less permeable to water. Epoxy has become more commonly used in kayaks but vinylester is usually only used in larger boats to my knowledge, and then often just in the first few layers to prevent water migration into the laminate.
This cover on a 23 ft carbon C4, made by Blanche, easily traveled from NY State to Whitehorse, YT, and back home again from Dawson City, YT.
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Here’s that same canoe with our home made spray cover, mandatory per Yukon race rules. We actually had two teams in separate but identical C4 canoes the first year (2017) that C4s were allowed in the Yukon River Quest. Both teams had a group party together for the cover making project back home in NY State. First cut was made as a pattern with cheap muslin fabric, then rip-stop coated nylon held to the gunwales with 2" wide velcro glued in place.
Another vote for Bag Lady. I have three of her ( now Jeremy Vore’s) covers. They have all been across the country multiple times and prevent salt and bugs and UV damage on multi week trips. Without flap. I used to have a Dannu cover… Now it covers cordwood.
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