Yet another ‘Ubiquitous Solution’ from the mind of Tom Lewis, Richmond, Virginia
We all know keeping small gear off the bottom of the boat and dry can be a challenge. I use 2 different methods I'd like to share with you. The first 'repurposes' [That's American for 'reuses.' Ed.] large clear plastic wide mouth jars with a tether. Bulk foods come in them and are found at most discount or bulk stores containing nuts, biscuits, etc. This is where cell phone, camera, small flashlight, documents, bandages, bug repellent, spare small parts, needle nose pliers, eyeglasses go. The jars are see through, float, are easy to open and close underway and are watertight. The second method uses what I call a thwart wallet. One of the best canoe sailing buys for me has been a large box of scraps I purchased from the Sailrite Company several years ago. (http://www.sailrite.com/Box-of-Fabric) They are almost gone! I have made several sails with some of the material, but the coated fiberglass mesh proved to be terrific for making mesh bags that held rope, waterproof VHF, GPS and other things that could take the spray and drain quickly. I decided to make a multi-pocket bag that would hang from the thwart or leeboard crosspiece. I wanted something that would provide storage and easy access for both waterproof and non waterproof items such as dry gloves, a small towel, shirt, lunch, etc. My design involves combining the mesh material with water repellent material to achieve this. Other designs might add better closures/attachments, add more pockets or layers, incorporate Velcro, etc.
The bag should hang 2-3 inches off the bottom and sides of the boat. I cut water repellent coated material to be double the rectangular profile of the space. When folded in half it creates an inside surface upon which I attached a “dry” inside mesh pocket, and an outside surface for the outside “wet” mesh pockets. I put grommets at the corners for attachment bungee balls, and sprayed all the seams with a black rubber material to lengthen the life of the thread.  The bags provide ready access to small gear (wet or dry) and keeping it off the canoe floor.
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