(Oci-One Kanubi) wrote in message

If you post this question on Paddle Prattle, the discussion board of
the Monocacy Canoe Club, at
http://www.monocacycanoe.org/mccboard/mccboard.html, Mike McCrae will
probably reply, and tell you in which back issue of Canoe & Kayak you
can find his article on anchoring strips of webbing to the inwhales.
These webbing strips, in turn, are used to anchor the floatation
lashings.

No need to post to the MCC board. Here is a system for using short
piece of webbing pop riveted beneath the gunwales that is equally
useful for tying in flotation bags or gear. BTW, OCI-One is right (no
surprise there); buy a center flotation bag and discard the idea of
DIY'ing foam flotation.

Canoe Floatation Bag and Gear Restraint System
(An alternative to the traditional drill-&-lace method for canoes with
vinyl gunwales)

The traditional lacing method for floatation bags involves drilling a
series of holes through the hull beneath the gunwales and laboriously
threading a line through these holes. Not a bad system, provided you
don't mind drill lots of little holes in the hull of your canoe and
you don't intend to carry anything in the canoe except those same
floatbags, trip after trip.

The webbing loop alternative

For canoes that may see multiple uses - whitewater day paddling one
weekend, downriver tripping the next - a more functional alternative
to the drill-&-lace method is to install webbing loops to the
underside of the gunwales.

A simple loop of one inch wide webbing, protruding from under the
gunwale, will make it easy to lace in and remove float bags, tripping
gear or some combination of both.

First, determine how many webbing loops you will want to install;
since you can easily tie and untie through these loops, and can use
these loops for a variety of gear and float bag combinations, think
more loops rather than fewer. A loop every six inches or so works well
for most applications.

Preparing the loops

Each loop will be made from a four-inch long piece of webbing, so
purchase a length of one inch wide webbing sufficient to make up all
the loops needed. Cut the webbing into four-inch long pieces and flame
the ends over a candle so that the cut ends don't frazzle.

Fold each four inch piece over into a closed-U shape (so that the cut
ends can be pressed flat together) and glue the last half inch of
webbing together. An expanding polyurethane glue, such as Pro-Bond
Polyurethane, will work best. Clamp the glued ends together and set
the loops aside until the glue has set.

Once the glue has set remove the clamps and drill a 3/16-inch hole
through the glued end. The stiff, expanded glue will prevent the
webbing from wrapping around the drill and make it easy to drill a
nice clean hole. Stick a 3/16 x 1/4 pop rivet through the hole on each
webbing loop.

If you own a torch an easier alternative to gluing and drilling is to
simply heat the tip of an awl with the torch and make the 3/16" hole
in the webbing with the hot awl.

Installing the loops

Place the canoe, gunwales down, on a set of sawhorses or some other
platform that will enable you to work comfortably from beneath the
canoe. Mark the locations on the gunwale where you want to install
each loop. Slip under the canoe and drill a 3/16-inch hole through the
underside of the gunwale, taking care not to drill out through the top
of the gunwale. Pop rivet the webbing loop into place. Drill your next
hole, pop rivet the next loop. Repeat as necessary.

Admiring your work

Once the last tie down loop is pop riveted in place flip the canoe
over. Nice job! You are now free to tie down floatation bags, camping
gear, unruly bowmen...whatever floats your boat.