Cold Storage
How to Tuck in Your Kayak and Canoe for a Winter Nap
By Annie Getchell, GORP Gear Expert
Lots of folks never give much thought to their trusty canoe when it concerns winter storage. They'll turn it hull-up and tuck it under the eaves of the barn or garage. That's fine for aluminum or fiberglass canoes with aluminum or vinyl gunwales, because the hull and gunwales are virtually maintenance-free.
On the skids: Only store all-aluminum or
fiberglass craft exposed to the elements
Other types of canoes and kayaks, though, need and deserve more attention to survive winter's subzero and fluctuating temperatures.
Canoes
Fiberglass hull with wood rails: Coat the rails with Watco oil to protect the quality of the wood through the drying and saturating extremes of winter. To do it, first lightly sand the rails, then apply the oil in a dust-free 50-degree F ventilated space.
Royalex (ABS) canoes with wood gunwales: These truly bombproof whitewater boats show their Achilles' heel with the onset of winter. Royalex has a high shrink coefficiency, and will contract significantly as the mercury drops below zero. Wood gunwales, however, contract at a radically different rate, and the resulting pressure can cause cracks in the hull laminate, which seriously compromises the boat's structural integrity.
Loosen wood gunwales to
prevent"cold cracks"
The good news is that "cold cracks" are utterly avoidable by one of two methods. You can store the boat in your cellar with the lawn furniture and inflatable Godzilla. Or, you can loosen the gunwale screws (almost completely). Just remember to tighten them up come spring!
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