Yet another ‘Ubiquitous Solution’ from the mind of

Tom Lewis, Richmond, Virginia

The variables are price, performance and hassle.

I have tried lots of "ready made" configurations: four-inch vinyl downspout, pool noodle, PVC pipe and even a pair of styro alum laminate sharks. (Why am I not surprised? Ed.)

Here on the James River, we have lots of submerged concrete and rebar steel obstructions so one of the main requirements for the outrigger is that it take punishment well.

Bollard cover outriggers fit the bill perfectly.

A bollard is one of those metal posts that keeps the delivery truck from hitting the loading dock.

A bollard cover is what you buy when your bollard gets rusty.

It is a UV protected polyethylene tube with one end closed in a half sphere. They come in various sizes and thicknesses. WALMART uses them extensively to spiff up their bollards if you want to go touch one.

I use the 7” dia X 5 foot x ¼ inch thick walls. You do the math, but that’s a heck of a lot of buoyancy for a weight of 8 lbs. Standing out on the crossbar won’t capsize. (The ones with 1/8 inch walls weigh 4 lbs ea. but are not as robust).

They are made using an inexpensive centrifugal casting method using melted pellets. I got mine from the NEW PIG Co. http://www.newpig.com. Search for BUMPER POST COVERS. They run about $100 ea delivered.

They are indestructible, can be stored outside in any weather, come in a variety of colors.

Once you figure out how you want to seal the rear end, they can provide storage on and off the water.

For the cross members, I use off the hardware store shelf 8 foot 1.25” aluminum tubing, but bamboo, pool skimmer pole, pvc, 2x2, etc work fine.

My outriggers are attached to the cross members using stainless steel hose clamp. Mount the out riggers slightly toe in. This adjustment controls how much "weather helm" occurs when an outrigger is in full use. The more toe-in , the more the canoe will want to go into the wind as the outrigger digs in.  The forward outrigger hose clamps are 1” - 2" closer to the hull than the rear ones.

Hose clamps are light, strong, and have enough give to flex under stress without breaking. Four, 1.5”clamps and four, 8” clamps (or a 7” and a 2” together to give you the 8” ) A small socket wrench to speed assembly is helpful. Check them for stress before assembly and keep some spares.