SPRAY DECK REVIEWS

Dear North Water
Just wanted to say Thank You again for helping me get the spray cover in time. We had no problem finding the shop and the people there were most helpful. It took me about 1 ½ hrs to rig the boat and it fit perfectly. We happened to arrive at the river at the crest of an all time recorded high water level and the whitewater was amazing. The cover worked very well allowing us run 15 rapids that we would not have been able to run in open boats. This saved us several days of portages.
Eric Zierke - Bloodvein River Manitoba, September 14, 2009

We're back from our Thelon trip and I'm catching up on business stuff etc. I've had a quick first run-through of my photos and video and hope to put something together for you in the next few weeks.
The decks were great. We basically left the deck on the boat the entire time as we were able to load and unload through the hatch and cockpits. What a great design feature that large hatch is.
Paul VanPeenen - Thelon River Nunavut, Canada’s Artic, September 13, 2009

I've used a North Water spray deck for every major canoe expedition I've done. It is a crucial expedition piece. It keeps you cozy on pissing wet days, allows you to paddle big open water that leaves most canoes wind-bound and lets you to confidently run white water.  It rolls up nice and small if you're not using it or can be kept on and portaged easily with the large centre hatch. I currently have 2 pack cloth decks - one with almost 150-days on it- and both are still going strong.  The quality is exceptional and I wouldn't do an expedition without one.
Canoed 8,000 km from Saint John, NB to Vancouver in 1995; 300km kayak trip down the West Coast of Thailand in 2000; 2nd descent of Nam Pha river in Laos by Kayak in 2003; Canoed 800 km across Norway, Sweden, Finland in 2004; Circumnavigated the Haida Gwaii Archipelago in 2005 by Kayak; 3100 km canoe trip from Winnipeg to the cottage in 2007; 1050 km trip from Opeongo Lake to Moosonee in 2008;
Frank Wolf

Montreal, Quebec to Inuvik, Northwest Territories
"North Water makes what I consider to be the toughest canoe decks on the market. I brought mine on a solo canoe expedition across Canada over the course of 3 springs and summers. It is still keeping the water out of my boat!"
They did a superb job of tailoring the cover to my canoe’s (The Souris River Tranquility Solo) custom features, such as curved thwarts and support poles to prevent the cover from pooling water.”
  “My canoe cover made it possible to paddle in some challenging wind and wave conditions on larger lakes like Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Athabasca, and Great Slave Lake. I was able to have waves pouring over the canoe with no serious concern of swamping. During the month I spent canoeing Lake Superior’s north shore, I was only wind-bound for 5 days, thanks to the cover. Without it, I suspect that it would have taken me a month and a half or more to complete that portion of my journey. The cover made a huge difference in preventing my canoe from catching the wind, so I used it whenever I knew I would not be portaging frequently.”
I had chosen not to install a cargo hatch; its benefits were definitely worth the extra work of lacing and unlacing the deck to access my gear. Next time I would install a zippered Cargo hatch.
Seth Wotten - Water for Future Generations

"Your Spraydeck made the difference between do or die”. When I was pelted by endless rain and wind for days, it made all the difference. The basic equipment for canoeing (as you know) is canoe, paddles, lifejacket and spraydeck!!  Could not have done it without your support and help!  Thanks for all your time and effort!"
Nancy Vedder

1. The deck was used on our two month crossing of northern Quebec. We probably had it out and on the boat ten times.
2. I had never used a spray deck before this trip.
3. The deck certainly came in handy several times. We paddled in a strong crosswind producing big (5 foot) swells on a large barren ground lake. Some of the swells were actually breaking over the canoe. Traveling without the deck would have been completely out of the question. With the cover on we made quite excellent progress despite the really terrible conditions. I was shocked at how well the canoe paddled.
The deck did a great job of keeping out the majority of the water. The PVC "stays" that were to be inserted into the cockpit part of the deck was left behind at the start of the trip due to space constraints and the deck worked very well even without this feature. We did take on some water when it pooled up on the loose cockpit part, but the PVC hoops would have prevented this.
The paddle pockets on the top of the deck were really handy. The large zipper hatch was also an essential part of the design. One of the reasons why I enjoy canoeing is the easy access and ability to move around. The cargo hatch allowed for this to happen.
The lace up system of attaching the deck seems to have worked really well. I found it quick and easy to use. The product was really durable and seems like it would have held up for a long time. I felt terrible about having to leave our canoe and the deck behind at the end of the trip.
On a few practice runs prior to the trip I ran our 18 foot tandem canoe down some local class III+ runs. Kayakers thought we were crazy, but the cover kept us dry as a bone and made running this stuff quite acceptable. As soon as I get enough cash together I'll be buying a deck for whatever canoe I have at the time. Invaluable if your goal is to run rapids.
I did note some things that could have been improved with the design. There is nothing inherently wrong with the design, just a few things I would work out if it were up to me.
1. At the start of the trip we had so much gear in the canoe that the deck could not be attached to the canoe. We were loaded above the gunnels by a good bit. Maybe some kind of "bellowed" design that folds away when laces tight could accommodate larger loads in the canoe.
2. Despite having burnt the end of the string for lacing up the deck the cord frayed. Some kind of a plastic tab like on the end of a shoelace wold prevent this and make lacing the deck on much easier.
3. Some loops or something for attaching gear to te deck would be handy. MOst people could easily make this modification at home, but it would be nice. I had to keep the hatch zipper partly open to allow me access to a loop that I could use for clipping a map case in.
I would definitely recommend a North Water deck to anyone else serious about tripping. I will certainly make sure that I have one on my next trip.
When we didn't need it on our trip this past summer it seemed like overkill, but when we did need it we really needed it and it performed well.
Hope this feedback was helpful. I know it isn't much, but feel free to pick my brain more and to use the feedback however you would like.
Brad Bassi -  01/12/2008

4 years ago I purchased from North water a canoe spray cover for my Mad river explorer. Great piece of canoeing equipment.
Dave Swingley - 14/12/2008

Hi Morgan
The green spray deck for Novacraft Supernova arrived today, and it's awesome! I am very happy with your product. It appears to be a perfect fit.
Ed Labenski - 21/07/2006

Having a huge wave erupt from a boiling mid-river hole that appeared and swept right across the spray cover and almost ate us whole. This was at the last rapid before Kazan Falls which would kill ya' for certain if you swam. My older Dene Indian pals told me that when a river is nasty you should give it a gift so one of my paddling gloves got chucked to the River Gods. I never did tell Lynda.
- Bill Layman, speaking to the usefulness of the canoe deck during his scariest moment.

Favourite North Water piece?
Easy – North Water Spray Decks, I've been using them for 8 years and they are mandatory on all my whitewater trips. Great quality, easy to use and they keep me upright in the big water.
- Peter Mather

Personally, I wouldn’t even think of going to the barrens without a covered canoe. A spray cover gives you that extra edge in big rapids and on large lakes where wind can come up in an instant and it is also a blessed relief on those really cold days. Remember that any swim in the barrens is potentially life threatening – the water up there is incredibly cold folks! I find that when I am south of the tree-line, where the water is warmer and there are more and longer portages, I don’t always feel the need for a cover.
To date the best cover I have used is the one made by North Water. Made of 14oz. Hercules cloth, these covers are nearly indestructible and North Water’s attention to sewing detail is bar none. Give them a call and they can walk you through the options you might want. My advice is to opt for two paddle pockets, and consider the split deck option – it makes it real easy to get at your gear. And one note. Everyone thinks that the lace-on system North Water uses is going to be a real pain in the ass. Well that’s exactly what I thought when I first saw it, and "it just ain’t so".
The deck only takes a few minutes to re-attach in the morning, and at lunch, with the zip-open cargo cover, there is no real reason to undo it at all. The trick at night is to only undo one side of the cover – that way it is easy to get the side-to-side adjustment even in the morning when you are still waiting for the coffee to cut in. And on portages, don’t even take the cover off. Just undo one side completely, roll the deck across to the attached side, and spool the loose cord around the rolled up deck and cinch it tight. North Water has an excellent selection of other peripherals from knee pads and D-rings to throw bags and Z drags.
- Bill Layman & Lynda Holland

I just wanted to let you know that the deck you built for our canoe has been working really well over the past two years.  It has really enabled us to meet the demanding conditions generated by the Great Lakes with confidence.  We are planning on completing the Canadian coastline this summer as we will paddle from Tobermory to Kingston along Lake Huron, Erie and Ontario.
- Stephanie Park & Jonathan Pratt

What do the fastest paddling trip across Canada (from New Brunswick to Vancouver) and the world record canoe trip (from Western Canada to the Amazon) have in common? They both relied on a canoe deck to get them through time when weather and whitecaps would have stopped other expeditions cold.
Canoe decks aren’t just for hardcore paddlers. They’re becoming more and more popular for extended journeys – especially in cold, wet regions – by providing protection from the elements for food, clothing and most importantly, paddlers. They can also be used when running whitewater, eliminating the hassles of bailing at the bottom of every ripple.
Though they’ve been around since Voyageurs first draped furs over their hulls, technology has finally come to these canoe covers. To see what all the water-shedding hoopla is about, we tested solo and tandem decks from Vancouver’s North Water Rescue & Paddling Equipment. The company has patterns for most models of Clipper, Dagger, Mad River and Old Town canoes, and can custom-fit others. For our testing, we outfitted an Old Town 169 with a tandem (complete with zippered cargo hatch and spare paddle hold) and a Dagger Ovation with a solo.
First we had to submit the boats’ measurement, easily done over the phone or company’s Web site. Specs you’ll be asked to provide include everything from overall length and width to make, model, gunwale and hull material. A diagram on the Web illustrates how to perform such other needed measurements as the distance from the bow to the back of the stern seat and rear thwart; stern and bow cap dimensions; and width distant from the bow to the back of the stern seat and rear thwart; stern and bow cap dimensions; and width every two feet from the bow. They ask for a lot, but the attention to detail shows itself in the final result.
Made from waterproof and UV-resistant 14oz. Hercules material, both decks were easy to install, with the kit for each containing the deck drill placement marker, 20 loop patches, two tubes of vyna-bond, four D-rings, two 20-foot lacing chords and two deflector hoops. With easy-to-follow instructions, it took about two hours to install each one, including gluing on the patches and drilling holes in the canoe.
The company’s attention to detail was also apparent when it came time to paddle. A storage area near the bow held each canoe’s painter lines, a cargo hatch on the double allowed easy access to gear, a paddle pocket kept spares handy, and poly-webbing tie-downs provided easy lacing points to the canoe. A three-inch rub strip along the gunwales also protected the deck from wear and tear from errant paddle shafts. When trying them with gear, the decks adjusted easily to accommodate different loads.
None of the test paddlers notice much weight gain and we all found that the lash-down system didn’t interfere with our strokes. Perhaps their nicest feature are Velcro-closing cockpit covers made of 420-denier packcloth; they provide a large opening when needed (i.e., for wet-exiting), and an elastic waist adjusted to fit paddlers of all sizes. The opening also allowed for a secure fit whether kneeling or sitting, and let our bodies breathe when the Colorado sun poked through the clouds.
For all their comfort and warmth, however, the decks did have a drawback. Instead of picking our way through each wave train as usual, we now headed for the biggest ones we could find. And by increasing our penchant for play, we didn’t return home until well past our respective curfews.
- Paddle Magazine by Douglas Wipper