spray cover without snaps or velcro

Yes, I need a spray cover for the summer-long trip down the Missouri River. Reading the posts by members of this site have convinced me its use will outweigh the disadvantages. However, I got stuck on the “Now drill 60 holes in the side of your boat to attach the snaps.” I built a cedar strip just for the trip, I can’t put a bunch of holes in her; at least not without a story about rapids and large rocks. So time to look around the shop for alternatives to snaps.

Hook and loop would be too temporary for a 3 month trip; I’m sure it would peel off or get gummed up with mud and river debris. A cinch cord around the perimeter would not be tight enough in the center of the canoe. Maybe a clamp that attaches to the gunnels would do the job. So, I tried extra large binder clips, which held the cover but it was wider than the gunnels and stuck out to the side about ¾”. Plus it’s made of metal so it would probably rust before the trip ended.

Gunnel clamps made of PVC that have been heated to a malleable temperature is the home-made solution. I used some 2 inch diameter PVC sewer pipe cut into rings about 1/2 inch wide, then cut the rings in half to make a couple “C” shaped pieces. I heated them for a few minutes on the shop (clothing) iron until they become soft enough to straighten, flattening them with a board pressed on top. While it is still very warm, clamp the now straightened PVC strip around a piece of wood or other form that is the same thickness as your canoe’s gunnel. It should now look like the letter “J”. Let it cool for a minute (literally), then give it a try, snapping it over the outer gunnel. The longer, top of the “J” goes on top of the gunnel, facing inward. Sand and round the edges so it does not cut through the spray cover. Drill a small hole in the top of the “J” for a string to be attached to it and the spray cover, so they don’t fall into the river and become a fossil in the mud.



I sewed a 1.5” wide nylon rub strip (lightweight webbing) the length of the spray cover on both sides at the location where it meets the gunnel. This should protect the cloth from the abrasion of the clips being attached and removed. Depending on your gunnel width, maybe 2” wide webbing would be better. This would also give some range/variability for tall gear beneath the cover. I also sewed small tabs that just stick out from behind the webbing to provide attachment places for the strings. Give the PVC clips a coat of spray paint and get on the water!



My gunnels are mostly square but I know many canoes have tapered gunnels. You’ll have to make the wooden form the same size and shape to match your gunnels. An additional bend in the PVC may be needed at the inner edge of the gunnel to make it more secure.



This project is yet untested. So far it’s just the restless actions of someone wanting to do something canoe related while it’s winter. However, after following this excellent site for some time I know helpful comments and thoughtful critiques will follow in the discussion. Bring it!

I have home made canoe covers done in both ways, I fastened snaps to a Hornbeck (back when they had wooden gunwales), For my races on the Yukon River, we discovered a better choice was to fasten 2 inch wide Velcro (with contact cement) to the outside of the gunwales, both on both on cedar woodstrip and carbon voyagers and a carbon C4. The hardest part was sewing the second half of the Velcro to the waterproof nylon fabric. Custom spray covers were designed for each paddling position, necessary for paddling through the 3' high standing waves at Five Fingers Rapids. Other than protecting us from spray when in high winds and waves , it especially protected me in the bow when cutting through FFR. Great for rain protection and also. Another benefit was the cover kept the air on our lower torso and legs relatively warm against the cold of the icy water coming through the hull. There is no water more loaded with thick silt than the lower Yukon River. The silt and mud got everywhere, especially whenever we landed. But it never seemed to be any problem with clogging or keeping the Velcro from attaching. total cost of snaps for my Hornbeck from the hardware store was about $24. Strips of Velcro to go around longboat canoes, was over $100, but worth it.

When Charllie Wilson was working with Placidboats, he came up with a plastic hook and loop to fasten a cover they made for my wood gunwale Rapidfire. Works ok, but I feel that Velcro solutionworks much better.

Snaps on a Hornbeck


Velcro on a cedarstrop voyageur

Red Leaf Designs uses snap studs mounted with 3M adhesive tape, so no drilling is required:

Red Leaf Designs has snaps using a 3M adhesive. No drilling and very durable. They will be at Canoecopia if you want to see it in person. The Vores are great people.


I love the ingenuity of your solution, but am a bit concerned about durability. Break or lose a few and now the cover is pretty well useless. But that may be my conservative edge coming out.

@Pseudonym

Hahahah, beat me by *that* much...

Welcome WG, I like the DIY approach and your solution seems well thought out. I can see Tryin's point about durability but, if your gunwales are consistent widths the whole way (sounds like they are), simply taking extra clips might suffice.

With a couple of months until launch, it seems that you'd get a pretty good idea of durability by taking the cover off & putting it back on daily until Spring.

Good luck and I hope you'll post a TR when finished. Sounds like a great trip.

There's always the option of 3M Dual Lock...
BTW, welcome to the forum.
Let's see a few more pics of your stripper.

That's a clever solution, @wildgoose . Welcome to the forum.

I talked to Cassandra Vore (Red Leaf Designs) about the 3M-backed snaps yesterday at the show. They no longer recommend them as they have experienced a degradation in adhesive effectiveness. Cassandra told me that they believe 3M implemented a formulary change, which has reduced adhesion to composites.

Tryin' said:

I talked to Cassandra Vore (Red Leaf Designs) about the 3M-backed snaps yesterday at the show. They no longer recommend them as they have experienced a degradation in adhesive effectiveness. Cassandra told me that they believe 3M implemented a formulary change, which has reduced adhesion to composites.

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The failure is actually taking place between the adhesive pad and the plastic snap base. It leaves the adhesive pad on the canoe. They are the YKK SNAD's. YKK's response to the issue was that the marine snaps were not meant to get wet.

RPATCH said:

The failure is actually taking place between the adhesive pad and the plastic snap base. It leaves the adhesive pad on the canoe. They are the YKK SNAD's. YKK's response to the issue was that the marine snaps were not meant to get wet.

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Hmm, interesting. Still related to a possible 3M change, or is this two separate issues?

Tryin' said:

Hmm, interesting. Still related to a possible 3M change, or is this two separate issues?

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I can't say. I suspect that if one were to take the plastic snap base, rough it up with 80 grit sand paper and anneal it with a torch, that the 3M adhesive pad would stay put. That is not a very practical solution except for the truly obsessed.

3M makes all sorts of double back adhesives…look at the trim pieces on any modern car, all held on by a 3M adhesive, those parts get wet all the time, suffer wild temperature swings, etc
Seems to me those snaps just need a different adhesive

Tryin' said:

Hmm, interesting. Still related to a possible 3M change, or is this two separate issues?

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The 3M 25mm domed SNADs worked wonderfully for about 3 years. Last summer, we had a rash of unusual failures that affected a number of customers on high-stakes, long-distance trips. Prior to that, a handful of customers would report that a snap disk had come off of their boat each season, but it was rare and always between the adhesive and the hull. It was an easy fix and we recommended that customers carry a couple of spare SNADs and a few alcohol wipes in their repair kits.

Last summer, we had customers lose every single one of their SNADs, all between the adhesive and the disk (the adhesive application made at the YKK factory), leaving the adhesive pads behind, still adhered to the hull.

We found workable solutions for the affected customers so they could complete their trips, but the reply from YKK was that nothing had changed in their process and there were no defects in the SNADs.

We still use 25mm and 40mm silicone SNADs (which have a different type of adhesive) with a number of other products we make and they use a different kind of bond than the black domed SNADs. We haven't seen any failures in the silicone SNADs, but, unfortunately, they're not ideal for spray decks because they flex too much.

We've removed the SNAD option from our website, but if someone REALLY wants them, they can call us. We want to make sure anyone choosing one of our decks isn't making that choice based solely on not having to drill, since we no longer have confidence in the SNADs being the solid solution that they were prior to last summer.

For context, the 25mm domed SNADs on my own Cruiser 16.8 and our family Polaris are all going strong after 1 year and 5 years, respectively. Those are all from stock that was pre-summer 2024.

Drilling and riveting is (and has always been) the gold standard for reliability and longevity, IMHO.

yknpdlr said:

Velcro on a cedarstrop voyageur
View attachment 145714

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Personally and professionally, if a spray deck has a tunnel that goes around my torso, I want to avoid Velcro. In a capsize, the weight of a paddler's body (or paddlers' bodies) falling out of the hull can rip the Velcro loose. That could leave you swimming with a 15+ foot long piece of fabric (and possibly other paddlers!) attached to you. The risk associated with that, especially in a swift water environment, are not acceptable to me.

I think Velcro is a great solution for covers without a tunnel or other body-enclosure. For anything with a tunnel, I prefer the security of snaps or Northwater's lace-and-loop system.

JV - You may have a point, but know that the "tunnel" fabric as it was fitted in segments around each voyageur or C4 paddler was quite loose, not cinched tightly in any way, so that the paddlers in their seats could slide easily side on wheeled seat rollers side to side for each "hut' (itself always a well coordinated practiced skill), except for the bow and stern paddlers who are in fixed seats. When in waves I had to hold it high to my chest to avoid getting splashed, but it kept falling down due to it being too loose. Regarding myself, paddling in the bow seat, my spray cover was also quite loose and we all had no problems skooching out of ours to reach our food and gear at our feet, as well as easily exit during each bio landing a couple of times a day. The fabric is custom sized to each paddler in a short individual segment, 3-4 feet long at most, certainly not the full length of the canoe (23-34 feet). Each segment is only attached with Velcro at the gunwales

So, I concede you may have a point for kayak style tightly fitted full length torso covers, but I do not see that could have been any major issue during our Yukon River race travels with our method of attachment. Without our covers, a considerable amount of wave wash would have come aboard, from wind whipped waves, as well as passage through the large standing waves of Five Finger Rapids. The covers also served to keep a relatively warm air layer on our legs against the near freezing temperatures coming through hull from the icy water.

yknpdlr said:

The covers also served to keep a relatively warm air layer on our legs against the near freezing temperatures coming through hull from the icy water.

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They can make an amazing difference in cold weather, can’t they? I think the most grateful I’ve been for a full deck was in the 2019 MR340, where we ran a small butane lantern in the boat during the night as a heater. It kept the deck and hull ice-free in the 22*F overnight temps and kept our lower bodies warm and cozy, to boot. Without it, we would have had significant ice build up on the bow, along the sides just above the waterline, and on the deck from paddle and hut splash.

There is now heavy duty velcro with heavy duty adhesive on one side and heavy duty velcro on the other. I used it to make a bow cover of Tyvek from my Colden Dragonfly before heading out on the Cree. Lots of WW and spray and dunkings later, the Tyvek was falling apart around the velcro which held firm. In this photo, part at the very end of the bow was not yet finished.