Storing solutions?

[jprint]

Hi,

I've got a 15' cedar and canvass Old Town canoe that I've refurbished, and now moved to Montana. In the past, I've stored my canoe in a barn where it has rested on a set of sawhorses. I don't have access to a barn in Montana -- just a space under a deck -- and during the winter we sometimes have days that hit -40 F. So, I'm wondering if there are recommended ways to store my canoe so that I can protect it against the elements, especially the cold, winter weather.

Thanks!

 

[Benson Gray]

Welcome, storing a wooden canoe under a deck is clearly not ideal, the dampness is likely to do much more damage than the cold. I would encourage you to find some sort of indoor alternative. The vertical space over a car in the garage can work. Good luck,

Benson

 

[jprint]

Ok, thanks. Appreciate it. It's already wrapped in a plastic tarp, and so I was wondering if I could seal the deck (so water doesn't drain through), and then cover it with something else to preserve it against the cold. Think that might be an effective approach if I can't find an indoor alternative? Thanks!

 

[John Sand]

I'm wary of wrapping wooden boats in plastic, they need ventilation to avoid rot.
It's not WC, but I stored a lapstrake plywood canoe outside under a fabric cover for several years. No harm done.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Moisture and sun are your enemies. Good ventilation will prevent moisture.
Hoists like the one in the photos are relatively inexpensive on EBay.

 

[paddler123]

Cold isn't a problem - plenty of Canadian summer camps store their fleets over the winter in unheated buildings in temperatures as cold as you get, with no deleterious effects. If you can make the deck waterproof, that would provide both shade and keep it dry, so that should be fine.

NB: cold is a big problem for synthetic canoes with wooden gunwales - the differential thermal contraction causes cracks in the hulls. But for wood on wood, everything contracts and expands at the same rate.

 

[Worth Gretter]

The West System newsletter "Epoxyworks" had an interesting article on a Royalex canoe that suffered cold damage because the plastic hull contracted more than the wooden gunwales.

Royalex Canoe Repair with G/flex Epoxy - Epoxyworks

By Bruce Newell and Stan Bradshaw Above: Stan and Glenda Bradshaw in the Mad River Freedom 16' Royalex canoe repaired with G/flex Epoxy in August 2007 on the Blackfoot River near Ovando, Montana a couple of miles downstream of the Roundup Bar. The wooden gunwales of Royalex canoes can rip a hull...

www.epoxyworks.com

In the picture, every one of the thin vertical lines is a split that these guys fixed. Here they are doing whitewater as a test, so we don't know if they decided to paint it!
So I guess the moral of the story is, don't pay extra for wooden gunwales on a plastic canoe, go with the cheap plastic gunwales!

 

[Ben Fuller]

I agree that cold isn't the problem. Rain and snow is. If you have lots of height under the deck, you can set up a "shed". I've been storing canoes and kayaks under my tall north facing deck in Maine for some years. I have some tall sawhorses that let me do a couple of layers. But what really works is a big plastic tarp. I run a ridge line down the middle of the deck. Then once the tarp is draped over it and held out by the saw horses I run some lines using tarp clips out to the deck beams to hold it away from the edges of the sawhorses and from the boats. The tarp has to be replaced every half dozen years or so as it gets beaten up by the wind. It shed any snow that makes it past the deck nicely. This approach lets there be plenty of ventilation around the boats; if any rain or snow gets in, boats are upside down.

 

[jprint]

Cold isn't a problem - plenty of Canadian summer camps store their fleets over the winter in unheated buildings in temperatures as cold as you get, with no deleterious effects. If you can make the deck waterproof, that would provide both shade and keep it dry, so that should be fine.

NB: cold is a big problem for synthetic canoes with wooden gunwales - the differential thermal contraction causes cracks in the hulls. But for wood on wood, everything contracts and expands at the same rate.

Thanks very much for this. I confess I'm surprised to hear that cold wouldn't damage an older cedar and canvass canoe! Did I mention we hit temps of -40 F and below !?? Not even that would damage the canoe??

BTW, In 2004, I personally repaired over half of the ribs, and stripped the old canvass hull and installed a new one. I can't remember what I used to seal it (someone from a canoe forum recommended a particular product at the time). Anyway, I only mention this because I don't know how the cold would affect the canoe itself, along with the products I used when I rebuilt my canoe nearly 20 years ago.

Thanks again!

 

[jprint]

I agree that cold isn't the problem. Rain and snow is. If you have lots of height under the deck, you can set up a "shed". I've been storing canoes and kayaks under my tall north facing deck in Maine for some years. I have some tall sawhorses that let me do a couple of layers. But what really works is a big plastic tarp. I run a ridge line down the middle of the deck. Then once the tarp is draped over it and held out by the saw horses I run some lines using tarp clips out to the deck beams to hold it away from the edges of the sawhorses and from the boats. The tarp has to be replaced every half dozen years or so as it gets beaten up by the wind. It shed any snow that makes it past the deck nicely. This approach lets there be plenty of ventilation around the boats; if any rain or snow gets in, boats are upside down.

Thank you! As I said in my reply to the previous post, I'm stunned to hear that -40 F weather wouldn't have any damaging impact on my canoe! Still feels risky to me... I can figure out how to weatherize the underside of the deck, and can certainly create the kind of shed you're suggesting. We do get wind here, but it's not quite as intense as other parts of the state. I'm still concerned about he crazy cold we get, and its potential impact on my dear canoe. But I'll definitely consider your suggestion. Thanks so much!

 

[jprint]

Moisture and sun are your enemies. Good ventilation will prevent moisture.
Hoists like the one in the photos are relatively inexpensive on EBay.

Thank you for you suggestion! I measured the space in our new garage, and it looks like we might be able to get the canoe to fit, though it'll be tight. The one hesitance I have is its relative proximity to where the garage heater is. I'll try repositioning that as best I can -- it's an older garage, so it's not so easy to manipulate the space (yet).

Can anyone recommend decent canoe hoists for a garage?

Thank you again, so much!

 

[Benson Gray]

Can anyone recommend decent canoe hoists for a garage?

See the links below for prior discussions on this topic. Good luck,

Benson

Garage Hoist System for Canoe Storage

I know people make these themselves, but I'd like to know about dependable systems I could buy off the shelf. Anyone have any recommendations?

forums.wcha.org

Canoe Hoist

How to get an 18 foot canoe off a form when there is only 1 person around, low cost canoe/kayak hoist from amazon, but handy.

forums.wcha.org

Canoe storage solved!

I could store a canoe in my unfinished basement, but the door isn't wide enough so it has to enter and exit sideways. I didn't like that idea, so while restoring it, I considered the best alternative, winching it up to my garage ceiling. It turns out there is just barely room. The garage door...

forums.wcha.org

 

[Dan Lindberg]

JP,

-40F isn't that cold, and won't hurt the canoe at all.
There are plenty of W/C at the camps in Northern MN (where it gets well under -40) and they do just fine.
Just keep the water and sun off and you'll be fine.

Dan
our canoes are either in the unheated garage or on a rack under a overhang on the outside of the back wall of the garage.
no issues

I'm stunned to hear that -40 F weather wouldn't have any damaging impact on my canoe! Still feels risky to me..

 

[Ben Fuller]

After a bunch of DIY solutions for canoe hoists, I'm going to give the Harken a shot. Canoe should be supported on the gunwales. Upside down is traditional and you need to hoist from 4 points to keep it from tipping. That said we at Penoboscot Marine Museum took in a very early E.M. White which had been hoisted upright in a barn with a two point hoist. The owner had fitted boards snugly under the gunwales at each end and put an eye bolt in the center. Board was about 3 " wide. When I took the canoe down I could feel the ridges in the varnish where the boards lay. http://penobscotmarinemuseum.pastperfectonline.com/Webobject/ACACBDED-F6B4-4D8C-AA0E-002793416114 is the canoe.

 

[Howie]

What I've done is take a good quality tarp along with some firing strips and nails and create a 'tarp tent' under my deck. This creates a space long enough on the ends to extend past the ends of the canoe and long enough on the sides to touch the ground. This provides a nice airy space to store a canoe on sawhorses. In my case I had enough deck height to hold two canoes, so I made a simple pulley system to hoist one canoe up to the bottom of the deck and place another canoe below.

 

[MGC]

I have canoes in the rafters, canoes hanging with rope and pulleys, canoes stacked on horses and on top of each other and canoes on racks attached to my garage framing.
I don't see a point in buying a hoist system. You can pick up all of the components you need to make your own a Lowes.
I like to hang and store right side up. I am not a big fan of hogged out hulls. If they are going to distort, I'd rather end up with a bit more rocker. I generally hang from the seats. I attach a rope to each side of the seat and then attach a single rope to that cross rope. The rope that is attached to the cross rope is run through a pulley or whatever locking device I might be using. Canoes that I use often are on horses or in racks so that I can get them in and out more easily.
The single most important consideration is dry and protected storage. If snow and water can get at a boat, it's days are numbered.

 

[Worth Gretter]

I am not a big fan of hogged out hulls.

I have been thinking about hanging options, because my project canoe is hogged just a little, maybe 1/2 inch. I want to keep it from getting worse and reverse it if possible.