Canoe with a View : : Canadian Open Canoe forum

It's been nearly a year now since I changed my Nova craft Prospector for the Wenonah variant. So I got to thinking about posting what I had done to it above the standard set up. Many has been the instance someone has asked what to do with a canoe, be it a kneeling thwart, airbags or matting so I will try and cover it here. This is not necessarily the 'right' way of fitting out as it is predominantly down to personal preference, however this is my take on it and hopefully it will help someone with their fitting out.



The bare boat, as standard; 2 seats on steel hangers, 1 yoke, 2 carry handles, 1 dog.... er sorry that's not included


Having fitted out the Nova Craft over a period of months and plenty trial and error I pretty much knew what I wanted to do with the Wenonah.

First off were the End Loops, made up of 10mm floating rope. These are quite challenging to fit in this canoe due to the very gradual fairing, I guess you need to be somewhere resembling James Herriott to get your arms in far enough to tie the knot. After careful measuring and re-measuring I drilled a pilot hole

then a 6mm hole before finally the ten.




The Lacing, this would provide gear attachment points on the inside and some have commented it improves the strength of the hull if wrapped, personally I'm not sure on this so won't comment further.

the cord I used was 7.6mm cord in black. I ordered 12 metres and found this enough to also cage in the rear airbag. For the kit handles I threaded this through 8mm internal diameter clear tubing from B&Q (tip melt the end of the cord into a point and pour a liberal amount of washing up liquid into the tubing to allow ease of fitting).


I measured the holes from the centre of the boat to the edges, missing the stickered area for aesthetics. (tip; measure at least twice, mark with a marker pen, drill a small pilot hole before using the larger drill bit) I put tension on the card as I worked around the boat starting from the rear and ensuring the final hole ensures the cord ends up on the inside to cross to the other side.

The inside is then finished with clips for retaining gear or as an anchor point for lashings.

Next the D-Rings. These were fitted using Wicks own brand contact adhesive (spirit based) I find this to be strong and at a quarter the price of B&Q's a veritable bargain. Mark around the pad when you have established where it will fit, key the boat and the reverse of the pad with medium sand paper then clean with white spirit.


Apply adhesive to both parts and allow to dry. Once dry introduce the pad to the boat and push out any air bubbles. Add weight, a bag of sand is perfect. leave for 24-48hrs before putting any tension on the ring.


Kneeling Thwart. Made up of a piece of ash supplied from any good canoe retailer It is worth getting a decent piece of timber without knots from a specialist retailer. The hangers were made from pieces cut from the end of the oversized thwart and drilled to fit the specialist stainless bolts (tip when drilling through the thwart itself drill the holes at an angle to match the angle of the hangers)


There has been a lot of discussion around where to place the kneeling thwart, this is really an area of personal preference but I would suggest about 10-12 inches behind the centre point to allow for a slightly bow light trim. Take into consideration the proximity of the yoke as this can become a pinning hazard. An alternative to this is to fit a quick release yoke which is removed for each use.


Kneeling mats. These were bought from Argos, the original use being as weight room floor pads. they do add quite a bit of weight to the boat but the comfort gained outweighs this.
Again fixed using Wicks contact adhesive. You will need quite a large quantity for fitting these so be aware
(Tip; cut the mats down into small sections to allow ease of fitting, once the mat touches the adhesive they stick, for good!)


My matting is fitted up to the gunwhales to allow for a good array of kneeling positions also carried forward for adjusting trim in comfort.


Airbags. I chose a pair of small bags (32") so as to allow for plenty of storage space, white water paddlers tend to favour larger bags as they fall out more These are held in place with keeper straps threaded through the D-Rings and 'caged' in with cord. The front is held in place with 7mm climbing 'prussic' cord the rear with the remaining lacing cord. If you prefer an airbag lashing kit can be used.
Front bag detail.


Rear bag detail.

The bags have been shrouded in old carry mat to prevent the likelihood of puncturing, this also extends underneath the bags to reduce the risk of gravel and pebbles wearing the bags.



Showing one air bag covered


Beyond this I have fitted a thwart behind the bow seat as this has now been removed. The thwart adds to strength and includes shock cording to hold maps, gloves or jacket etc.

you told me you used KY jelly for lubing your tubes not washing up liquid

I think you're getting confused old man, didn't you fry your chips in that once

Very good Lee, this sort of instructional stage by stage TT will help newbies out no end.

Nice job.

With hindsight, I'd have drilled the holes running the length of my 'Bob', a half inch lower. It would have allowed easier clipping of krabs. But I did them tight under the gunwales, so I wouldn't have to look at the tubing, if nothing was clipped-in or tied on. Apart from that, I'm pretty happy with how things worked out. Still to fit the kneeling thwart I got from Platinum. I still have great problems kneeling, so don't feel I can experiment with postioning.

No complaint with how the Coleman worked out.

TGB

(06-09-08 07:48 PM)TGB Wrote: [ -> ] Nice job.

With hindsight, I'd have drilled the holes running the length of my 'Bob', a half inch lower. It would have allowed easier clipping of krabs. But I did them tight under the gunwales, so I wouldn't have to look at the tubing, if nothing was clipped-in or tied on.

TGB

I did exactly the same with my Nova Craft, although not of major concern it just made things a little more awkward.