The strap yoke is actually a Mohawk Canoe idea. They (currently sold out) sell them on their accessories page. Easy enough to DIY.
https://www.mohawkcanoes.com/collection ... bbing-yokewoodpuppy wrote:
What do you use to tie down a spare paddle?
Lots of possibilities for spare paddle storage; with a wood thwart or utility thwart some cross bungee to secure the shaft/grip end. With an aluminum thwart two loops of double sided Velco, one wrapped around the aluminum thwart with a second length of double sided Velcro held underneath that one so it forms an offset figure 8.
One hint with Velcro shaft keeper straps; I want a tab folded over and glued together, so I am not busting my fingernails trying to pick hook & loop apart. Especially on a stern thwart where I can’t see what I am doing behind me. That nail gouging at un-tabbed Velcro does not make for quick spare paddle retrieval, and sometimes quick is good.
My favorite way of securing a spare paddle, or paddles, or paddles plural plus short push pole and sail, involves drilling a lot of holes in the canoe, so maybe not your cuppa tea.
A spray cover with paddle blade storage pockets (plural) and paddle shaft lash straps (plural +, 5 total) resolves the easily accessible paddle problem. Paddles held near at hand, secured atop the covers, not jammed amidst the gear. Stored under the covers would be a fast retrieval nightmare. A quickly accessible spare paddle grab or switch is important to me, even in non “Oh crap” situations.
Covers are beneficial for other things of course, especially for windage. Even partial covers are handy for rain and wave splash. In hot weather/cool water trips, desert rivers in spring snowmelt (or spring fed runs in sweaty sub-tropical Florida), the area shaded under the covers stays much cooler thanks to the ambient water temperature transmitted through the hull; think chocolates in the food barrel, canteen of water that isn’t tea-temperature, ice chest if you brought one. Or Guinness Stout quaffing temperature if you didn’t.
The Penobscot covers fit the NorthStar will enough, and so on they went. I have put spray covers on a half dozen canoes, Cooke Custom Sewing covers, old/antique retrofitted covers and DIY covers, and have a process that works well for me when working alone in the shop. A shop helper working on the opposite side of the hull, alternately checking the below-outwale measurements, drilling and popping rivets would speed the process up considerably. And save walking around to the other side of the canoe 40 or 50 times.
Start by taping the covers in place, with even overlap from side to side.
Layer some cheap grey duct tape four or five layers thick. Place the duct tape on the hull under the spray cover socket location (in the case of partial covers starting at one stem) and thumb press hard, leaving a circular impression on the duct tape. If the bullseye is faint mark the center with a Sharpie dot so you don’t lose sight of it while picking up the drill; the snap stud locations need to be exact.
PA140009 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Drill a 1/8” hole through the center of the bullseye. Take the tape off. I have forgotten to take the tape off before installing the pop rivet through the stud over the tape. I have taken the tape off before drilling the hole.
I will proudly state that I encountered neither of those miscues this time around; maybe I’m getting better. When the hole marker tape becomes Swiss cheese stop and make a fresh multi-layer marker piece.
PA140015 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Push the 1/8” pop rivet through the snap stud and hole and back it up with a washer inside the hull. In some strategic locations I use stainless steel mini D-rings to provide tie down points for float bags or gear. I would have used those mini SS D-rings as back up for every other stud on the NorthStar, but I am still striving to keep the weight down.
Two mini D-rings on each side, bow and stern. That may be insufficient for proper float bag lacing. Meh, how often and I putting float bags in the NorthStar?
PA140013 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Pop rivet the stud in place, which requires using a reduced rivet tool nozzle, a headpiece of sorts that fits INSIDE the stud lips (that stud nozzle is less than ¼” wide and ¼” long). Some pop rivet tools come with that stud seating head.
PA140019 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Snap the spray cover socket onto that seated stud, wander over to the other side of the canoe and install the next snap across the hull, keeping the cover equidistant below the outwale on each side.
While you are on that side doing the opposite stem rivet press another bulleye into the layered marking tape, drill and install the next stud in line, and snap the cover in that location, amble back over to the opposite side of the canoe and do the next two on that side. After the first pair of studs on opposite sides are seated it is easier to alternate, doing two in a row before switching sides.
I’d walk a mile for a spray cover. Or some blended Turkish and Virginia Tobacco.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KyIfrtfDFoThe wheeled shop cart, with tape, drill, rivets, studs, washers, mini-D-rings and etc made that side to side traveling a lot easier. No sharp mandrel pins fallen lost on the shop floor either.
PA140014 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Each time you drill the next hole in line the cover needs to be unsnapped for access to put the washer in place, then everything gets re-snapped before installing the next stud. Good practice at properly seating and snapping sockets to studs. “Practice” that I really didn’t need, but it can’t be helped in the initial spray cover installation.
Stern cover on
PA140010 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Bow cover on
PA140018 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
My thumb hurts. There are 40 snaps on the partial covers, spaced 8” apart. On a non whitewater canoe cover those snaps could be spaced every 10 or even 12 inches apart. Each of those 40 got thumb snapped, unsnapped and re-snapped multiple times during the initial installation. I need to take a Thumb Break half way through.
A note on the initial installation and subsequent use of nylon spray covers. With nylon covers do not attempt the initial install if the humidity is higher than 60%, or risk later, in drier conditions, the spray covers being a too-tight PITA to snap on in the field.
When the humidity is low at a launch I dunk the stuff bag of covers in the river and set it aside while I pack the canoe. By the time I am ready to put the covers on the loaded canoe they are nylon saggy damp and easy to install. In low humidity conditions the covers will go drumskin taut dry in short order. So taut that it’s best not to have anything pointy or sharp protruding above the sheerline.
P5031960 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Once installed the unadorned covers looked so nice I had to play dress up. The Penobsot’s center storage cover for in-camp use, as expected, comes up several inches short on the longer NorthStar.
PA140023 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
For a tripping canoe with partial covers the NorthStar deserves a center storage cover. I may DIY one from heat sealable Packcloth fabric. Or ask Dan if Cooke Custom Sewing still means custom. I am reluctant to make a purple heat sealable Packcloth cover, simple as it is, a near rectangle 72” long x 39” wide, mostly because the CCS work is far superior to my kludgy DIY attempts.
I don’t portage these days, and with a center storage cover don’t need to schlep paddling gear to a sometimes distant camp; everything from PFD to paddles and sail can stay safe and dry inside the canoe.
P3070814 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
P2180691 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
The storage cover may not fit, but plenty of other accessories will. With the covers and paddle pockets I can bring a selection of paddles and poles. Those pockets and lashes would probably work equally well for fishing rods, long handle nets, or a water fowling piece; anything long you want on top and not buried in the gear underneath. Clam rakes, sadly, are a little long.
In the stern partial cover paddle pocket, with dual shaft straps, a stout straight single blade, and my beloved multi-functional shallows push pole/hiking staff/extended reach duckbilled grabber/spare tarp pole.
PA140026 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
On the front cover my equally beloved Werner Camano carbon 260, a special order than once belonged to my late, great friend Norb, a slender Camp bent shaft which, blade pocketed and shaft strapped pulls the center of the front cover up for better drainage, and a furled downwind sail, ready to plug into the Y battens on the sail mount.
PA140025 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
There are better sails. There are no more simple, hands-free, no lines or sheets involved sails for downwind cruising. Up in seconds, down in seconds, adjustable in 30 degree increments.
I am jonsing to get some custom knee bumpers installed once the Conk package arrives, get some vinyl pad D-rings in place for stem bags/gear (replacement float bags scheduled to arrive late Tuesday), finish the rest of the minor outfitting and decorative tasks and get the soloized NorthStar out on the water where it belongs.
The Conk minicel may be delivered by the hostage-taker’s Missus as soon as tomorrow. His last kidnapping must have brought a hefty ransom, he recently bought a near identical NorthStar solo, but mine cost thousand less.
Mrs. Hostagetaker, who had her own thoughts about the purchase of a $3K+ canoe, usually stops in the shop for a visit. I made a sign for her viewing pleasure.
PA150029 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Mr. Hostagetaker is right, I am a putz. BWAHAHAHA!