Finally got tired of renting and splurged on a boat just over a week ago. I went with something that was ultralight. I was sick of carrying heavy canoe around.
I ended up with a gorgeous Northstar Northwind 17 with the StarLite material. Totally in love with the boat.
I’m doing my best to read up on how to treat/load an ultralight boat. But I just have a few questions when it comes to canoe camping.
When I’m done at night, I usually am in the habit of putting the canoe upside down to keep overnight rain out. Is this still a safe measure with a kevlar canoe? I store my boat inside on a canoe rack. But would this be okay while unloaded and out in the bush?
Storing a canoe upside down is almost always the best way to store it. The gunnels are usually the strongest part of the hull, plus it keeps rain and debris out and allows it to dry. It’s fine on the ground in the bush that way. In a protected environment hanging on wide straps or on padded saw horses or a hand made rack is perfect. Generally at about one third the distance from either end.
First off, congrats on the new boat. If you’re like me you’ll be worried about scratches for a while. (There was a guy who used to be on this board who, when he bought a new boat, put it on the car and keyed it - so he could paddle it without worrying about the first scratch. )
Does it have wood gunwales? It doesn’t look like it , but I’m not absolutely certain -my eyes aren’t as sharp as they once were. I ask because on one occasion I turned my kevlar tandem boat over and stored some stuff under it at a rainy camp, just as you’re asking about. It was the last day of the trip and so the boat went into inside storage which ended up lasting for the winter, since I used a solo for the remainder of the season following that trip. Apparently I had inoculated it with mushroom spores because when I used it next season it was growing mushrooms under the deck plate and at the ends of the gunwales. Rotted the wood. Don’t do that. I think if I’d just raised it a touch off the ground with rocks or short logs I could have perhaps prevented the problem. On the other hand, I’ve done exactly the same thing hundreds of times with other wood gunwaled boats and never had a problem - maybe it was just dumb misfortune that I happened to set it exactly where I did. Just a thought to consider if your new boat does have wood gunwales.
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