Drip covers?

[Idiot Savant]

Like a lot of solo paddlers, I've found that I prefer paddling my solo with a double bladed paddle.
The problem I have with it, is all the water that drips into the boat.
Yes, a really long, low angle paddle helps, but I prefer paddling with a shorter, high angle paddle.
I don't want to get a full spray skirt. I'm thinking of something that just covers the small area where the water drips in and pops off easily so I don't feel trapped..
Something with a crown, so the water runs off the sides.
I've been thinking about something made from minicell, but haven't really worked out the details.
Just wondering if any of you have made something similar.

 

[ErktheRed]

What kayak paddle do you use? Almost every paddle comes with drip rings, but you can always buy a pair for around $5 at a shop that sells paddling supplies. There’s also open skirts floating around out there that keep your area open but cover some from minor splashes.

Harmony used to make some more open covers for both kayaks and canoes, I searched and found nothing. Maybe they discontinued them

 

[Idiot Savant]

What kayak paddle do you use? Almost every paddle comes with drip rings, but you can always buy a pair for around $5 at a shop that sells paddling supplies. There’s also open skirts floating around out there that keep your area open but cover some from minor splashes.

Harmony used to make some more open covers for both kayaks and canoes, I searched and found nothing. Maybe they discontinued them

I have drip rings, but if the paddle blade comes over the top of the side of the canoe, which it does in all but the most low angle style or with super long shafts, water drips off the drip rings and into the canoe.
I have spray decks for my kayaks, as opposed to a full spray skirt, and would like something like that for the canoe, but I'm thinking of something more rigid.
The only reason I don't just switch completely to kayaks, for solo paddling, is things like coolers and river toilettes don't fit into kayaks very well.

 

[Will Derness]

After experiencing the wet ride that is double blading I had a bow cover crafted that would catch most of the drip and direct it off to either side. It has significantly reduced the volume of water the canoe was collecting.

Seeing Mr. McCrea's cover for his Penobscot was my inspiration. Cooke Custom Sewing still had the pattern and they were willing to craft me just a bow cover. FYI, I'm paddling with either a 270 or 280 double blade and even a low angle stroke with drip rings will have water dripping in the canoe.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I don't paddle canoes with a double blade, but I have in the long past and also paddle kayaks with open cockpits. The primary drip solutions I've seen over the years include:

• Live with it and sponge the canoe.
• Put on rain pants or a rain kilt and sponge the canoe.
• Really big drip rings.
• Increase stroke rate to make the water fly less in the canoe.
• Partial canoe cover in front of paddling station.
• Crown the canoe cover with with an arch of something underneath, affixed to the gunwales or a thwart, such as an arch of foam, wood, plastic strips, metal strips, hula hoop, fiberglass tent poles, or similar bendable or shapeable material.
• Change to sit & switch paddling with a lightweight bent shaft paddle, which will still drip a little but is much easier to learn than single blade correction stroking.

 

[Idiot Savant]

I don't paddle canoes with a double blade, but I have in the long past and also paddle kayaks with open cockpits. The primary drip solutions I've seen over the years include:

• Live with it and sponge the canoe.
• Put on rain pants or a rain kilt and sponge the canoe.
• Really big drip rings.
• Increase stroke rate to make the water fly less in the canoe.
• Partial canoe cover in front of paddling station.
• Crown the canoe cover with with an arch of something underneath, affixed to the gunwales or a thwart, such as an arch of foam, wood, plastic strips, metal strips, hula hoop, fiberglass tent poles, or similar bendable or shapeable material.
• Change to sit & switch paddling with a lightweight bent shaft paddle, which will still drip a little but is much easier to learn than single blade correction stroking.

I was hoping for some good cover ideas.
I went paddling yesterday and closely watched the water coming off the blade. Most of it ran off the lower inside corner and missed the drip ring completely. I'd heard that sticking a piece of duct tape in that corner of the blade could keep a lot of the water out. I tried it, but didn't have much luck with it, but I think it's worth doing more experimenting with tape.

 

[Johnny 5]

Delete

 

[Idiot Savant]

You could attach any number of sun shade canopies that are available or custom make a quickly attachable arched canopy that can be folded and stowed into a stuff sack. Arched supports can be easily made in various configurations using tent poles.

Some pretty clever work. Gives me some ideas.
Is that a North Wind 16?

 

[Johnny 5]

Delete

 

[Cruiser]

I will leave the whole discussion of double blades dripping in the canoe, as a separate discussion. I find that getting a small amount of water in the canoe with portaging and rain etc. is inevitable at some point.

A simple solution for me has been to lay a ShamWow on the bilge area, between the seat and my feet. water simply absorbs into it and if it is wet I wring it over the side and put it back down. If you are portaging, it gets tied around the yoke ... when you get to camp it gets laid out to dry.
You have to be shipping a lot of water for this to be overwhelmed and rendered ineffective.



Brian

 

[Johnny 5]

Delete

 

[Johnny 5]

Delete

 

[Johnny 5]

Delete

 

[Idiot Savant]

I will leave the whole discussion of double blades dripping in the canoe, as a separate discussion. I find that getting a small amount of water in the canoe with portaging and rain etc. is inevitable at some point.

A simple solution for me has been to lay a ShamWow on the bilge area, between the seat and my feet. water simply absorbs into it and if it is wet I wring it over the side and put it back down. If you are portaging, it gets tied around the yoke ... when you get to camp it gets laid out to dry.
You have to be shipping a lot of water for this to be overwhelmed and rendered ineffective.



Brian

I've been putting sponges under my legs. I'm thinking of ordering a block of open cell foam, from Foat Factory.
Wonder what Jonny 5 had to say?

After experiencing the wet ride that is double blading I had a bow cover crafted that would catch most of the drip and direct it off to either side. It has significantly reduced the volume of water the canoe was collecting.

Seeing Mr. McCrea's cover for his Penobscot was my inspiration. Cooke Custom Sewing still had the pattern and they were willing to craft me just a bow cover. FYI, I'm paddling with either a 270 or 280 double blade and even a low angle stroke with drip rings will have water dripping in the canoe.

View attachment 131832

There is a place, only a few minutes from my house, that does outdoor gear repair and custom work. They might make me something.
I'm reluctant to try and drill a bunch of holes, in my canoe, for attaching a cover, but I guess you have to do what you have to do.

 

[Will Derness]

I've been putting sponges under my legs. I'm thinking of ordering a block of open cell foam, from Foat Factory.
Wonder what Jonny 5 had to say?

There is a place, only a few minutes from my house, that does outdoor gear repair and custom work. They might make me something.
I'm reluctant to try and drill a bunch of holes, in my canoe, for attaching a cover, but I guess you have to do what you have to do.

Cooke gave me excellent directions for installing the nylon cover and drilling the holes. They even sold me a hand rivet gun modified for their snap closures.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

I deleted a member's post that was originally in this space, but not because it violated any rule or anything close to that. It's just that in this case I'd rather not have the board publicly speculating, whether wrongly or even rightly, on why some other member deleted his own posts, which anyone is entitled to do. Thanks for understanding and carry on with the topic.

 

[Will Derness]

I've been putting sponges under my legs. I'm thinking of ordering a block of open cell foam, from Foat Factory.
Wonder what Jonny 5 had to say?

There is a place, only a few minutes from my house, that does outdoor gear repair and custom work. They might make me something.
I'm reluctant to try and drill a bunch of holes, in my canoe, for attaching a cover, but I guess you have to do what you have to do.

You could also consider making a partial front cover, which would cover just the area that collects drips from the paddle. This polygon would approximate a rectangle as it will be near the forward center of the canoe. You could test this concept with some 4 mil plastic and duct tape

 

[yknpdlr]

In general I really detest using a kayak paddle to propel a canoe. I do not "dip, swish and drip" when paddling my canoes. However, my Lost Pond 10.5' Hornbeck sits so low that using a single blade canoe paddle is not practical, so I am cursed with uising a double blade in that craft. When I do it is at a high angle rapid pace with blade held close to the gunwale, which only promotes drips being thrown into the canoe, even with drip rings. Due tot the offset blade angle, high right side tends to drip more than high left. So I made my own spray cover, held on with snaps, shown below. In retrospect, 2" velcro may have been a better choice, which is what I use on much larger Yukon River race canoes. The fabric is waterproof coated nylon, leftover from one of my wife's projects. I rolled a foam noodle as a dam to keep water from running back toward me. The stern portion fits over my gear and backpack. I am very happy with how well it works. it does the job very well, especially when I am in big water with wind and big waves.The most expensive part was $24 for the snaps from a hardware store.The whole thing rolls up and fits snugly into a small bag for portaging.

The only other time I might ever reluctantly use a double blade paddle is when I race with my solo PB Rapidfire during the 90 mile canoe race. Normally, 99;9% of the time I always paddle and train in my RF with a custom high seat using a single blade canoe paddle. In that class of boat a double blade is unfortunately required by the race rules. Same drip problem and I have a bag lady made cover for that solution. During one race I was paddling along beside another RF paddler who had no cover. When we reached the end of 11 mile Long Lake, he had to stop in the shallows to dump out gallons of drip water as I kept on going dry as could be.

 

[billconner]

Except for an occasional spurt, never paddling for speed. I use a bending branches double bladed in both my Prospector Pack 14 and my Tranquility, and rarely have drips. Not sure if the BB drip ring is better design and/or positioned, but very effective.