Raccoon-proofing and locking hatch covers

[Dan Foster]

Having recently shared my kayak camping breakfast with a group of hungry raccoons, I've found myself rummaging through trash cans and thinking of ways to steal kayakers' food. Before I go fully feral, I'd like to share some recent ideas about safer ways to store food in kayak hatches. Add this to your arsenal of camp hygiene tricks, along with this recent discussion of hanging food in raccoon territory, which we'll leave dedicated to hanging, rather than squirreling food away in boats.

In addition to bear hangs, bear canisters are fast becoming a required method of food storage in bear country, especially in coastal environments where good hanging trees aren't always available. On about half of the Maine islands I visited this summer, it would be difficult or impossible to hang all of the food for a paddling group. So, we could consider bringing bear canisters along to foil the raccoons (hereby referred to as trash bears or trash pandas). We've got the luxury of being able to pack heavier, bulkier items than most backpackers. But we've also got our kayaks with us, and those make pretty good trash-bear-proof canisters, except for the rubber hatch covers, which the trash pandas have learned to pry open. If we can solve the hatch cover problem, we have nearly-unlimited food storage in our kayak hatches.

Here are some attempts at keeping the raccoons from prying open my hatch covers, in pictoral form. In the few minutes these armored devices were in use, no raccoons were able to open the covers, and these methods were pretty successful at keeping me out, as well. 

I focused on protecting my bow hatch, as it has deck line tie downs fore and aft that prevent the straps from sliding forward and loosening the hatch protection.

 

 

 

Two versions using dutch oven and pot lids. A 10" pie plate would probably provide even better gnaw-proofing.

 

 

This version using a small grill wasn't as secure - I was able to partially lift the bottom part of the hatch, and that only made me want to start gnawing my way in...

 

And then it dawned on me that the indented channel around my Wilderness Systems hatch covers is probably there for a reason... (like keeping raccoons out)

Aircraft cable with clamp, use 7/16" nut driver or pliers to loosen/tighten in the field. Leave yourself 6" of wire on either end so you can pull it tight before tightening the clamp. This will probably be my preferred solution, once I buy the right sized nut driver.

 

Locking version with paracord and a carabiner. When the carabiner is parallel (first picture, it's loose enough to slip on and off.

 

Turning the carabiner perpendicular locks the cord in place. Took a fair amount of fiddling to get exactly the right length of cord. Need to make sure the cord doesn't stretch when wet!

 

 

I will also start paying attention to the position of the rubber tab that I use to lift the hatch cover off. In the first few photos, it's in the 6 o-clock position that I use by default because it's easy to lift. The photo with the pliers (above) shows a position that's only slightly harder for me, but likely harder for the raccoons to get a grip on, if that's how they pull hatch covers.

 

I would probably add a second layer of deterrence over all of these closures by slipping a pair of paddle halves through the deck bungees.

 

One final raccoonish thought, not related to hatches. The beach where we recently got raided by raccoons (the sand bar connecting East and West Gosling in Casco Bay) was teeming with shellfish and crabs at low tide, and the rocky shoreline was littered with raccoon poop. Clearly, that beach was a successful foraging location, even when there weren't boats loaded with food perched right above the wrack line. When landing on an island to camp, it's worth considering who the potential food raiders might be, and where they might be hanging out. On the Goslings, the threat was clearly from raccoons, and it might have made sense to take the boats up away from the waterline, or hang food in trees. In this particular location, we also faced the possibility that any non-food items the raccoons took off of the boats might get washed away by the overnight high tide, just a few feet away.

 

I hope this inspires some ideas for protecting your own kayak hatches. If you're interested in the aircraft cable locking technique and have a suitable recessed groove on your hatch covers, I can help build to order at some future paddling event.

[NPearson]

Or you could buy a Valley boat - their hatch covers are even a struggle for human fingers in my experience

[Benjamin Rechel]

Does anyone else here paddle a wooden boat, or anything else with hard hatch covers? No critter has yet to succeed in breaching my built in defenses of 3 buckle straps and 6mm plywood to reach my floating grocery store. 
 

How about turning boats upside down? 
 

Dan-what an ingenious use of the Dutch oven lid! 

[Joseph Berkovitz]

I recently experimented with turning my boat upside-down only to find that there was plenty of room for Dan (feral as he is) to squiggle in and access the hatches from underneath. (The bow and stern of the Cetus protrude somewhat creating space below the deck when the boat is inverted.) But resting the food-containing hatch on a rock or stump might cut off this avenue and save a lot of trouble with rigging, clamping, etc.

By the way... Dan... if you are ever hungry, you know you can just ask me for food and I promise I will give it to you if I have any.

[Dan Foster]

Ben, be careful with that wooden boat around beavers, woodchucks, carpenter ants, and termites.

I haven't seen any reports of animals gnawing through hard or rubber hatch covers (excepting actual bears), just prying off covers. If raccoons and their friends start becoming willing to gnaw through hulls, deck lines, or hatch covers, we'll have to adapt as well. (And it's worth noting that if the "store your food in your boat" method fails in this way, you've now got a hole in your boat in addition to an empty stomach.)

I agree that turning boats upside-down to rest on their hatch covers should work, but only if the weight of the boat is firmly on the hatches. If there's any sort of gap, raccoons will just assume their pancake form and tunnel in from below.

Joe, on behalf of scavenging rodents everywhere, thank you for your kindness. I'll spread the word to steal your food last.

[prudenceb]

I have seen evidence of raccoons attempting to gnaw through rubber hatches and doing a fairly effective job of it.  They have teeth as well as hands.

[Dan Foster]

Tell the story! It's important that we're working with the proper set of assumptions about what these adorable little varmints can and can't do. (And I hope we get bear bag and "food in the tent" stories as well, in their proper threads, so we can weigh those options as well). Would also be interested in hearing from the Alaska/Canada/Greenland paddlers about food storage and safety in polar/panda/grizzly country.

Edit: this (link below) might be the raccoon gnawing incident in question. Perhaps they can also gnaw through car tires.

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED - NSPN Annual MITA Cleanup at Bangs and Crow October 11-13, 2013 - Trip Reports - NSPN Message Board

Edited October 26, 2021 by Dan Foster

[prudenceb]

46 minutes ago, Dan Foster said:

Tell the story! It's important that we're working with the proper set of assumptions about what these adorable little varmints can and can't do. (And I hope we get bear bag and "food in the tent" stories as well, in their proper threads, so we can weigh those options as well). Would also be interested in hearing from the Alaska/Canada/Greenland paddlers about food storage and safety in polar/panda/grizzly country.

Edit: this (link below) might be the raccoon gnawing incident in question. Perhaps they can also gnaw through car tires.

NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED - NSPN Annual MITA Cleanup at Bangs and Crow October 11-13, 2013 - Trip Reports - NSPN Message Board

You got it!  They could probably gnaw through car tires, but at least in our case, they left the tires to ?young lads with nice sharp knives…

In Alaska, bear hangs absolutely necessary.

in Greenland, our only concern was that the polar bears would want to eat US, not our food.  Thus the need to be on guard in shifts all night, ready to alert our guide, who slept with shotgun close at hand.

[David M]

In southwest Alaska, where black bears were the major concern, the method of choice was the iconic Ikea bag with slits cut in the bottom for drainage.   Hanging about 15 or so feet in the air each held 10-12 5 Liter drybags of food stuffs and other aromatic items such as toothpaste, etc. 

[EEL]

Years and years ago when talking to a ranger in the Wind River Range of WY about bear/food issues, he simply said mostly there are only black bears around.  If they come into camp and bothered you, then simply bash them on the nose with a skillet.  They tend to run away and not come back when you do that.  If a grizzly, then they get whatever they want and you need to walk away slowly facing them.  Fortunately never needed to take advice.

A different time. At trailhead you logged in a ledger where you were going and expected return date.  They checked the ledger every week or so just to see who might  be missing. You got yourself in and were expected to get yourself out.

Ed Lawson

 

 

 

[gyork]

Seemingly guaranteed solution, but who's volunteering to transport the critter back to the mainland????

[kate]

how about using kevlar-woven Ursak bags with an odor-proof bag inside, as backpackers do? Hang or tie bag to something immobile (rock or tree), so no danger of hatch covers being damaged. Could probably even just leave this inside the tent vestibule, in non-bear country. Still wise to cook away from tent and boats though. 

[spider]

I have had good luck using the Ursak bag. Also I use a  small "bear barrel" which hold a fair amount of food.

Mostly it's the small mice and or squirrels  that can be a bit of a nuisance, I haven't been pestered with racoons thankfully. The barrel is nice because a bear would not be so able to carry it away, though they could cuff it around a fair amount. Of course the barrel has to be able to fit in your hatch, so I can only use it with particular kayaks.

Thought I would mention that I watched a bear working the shoreline till it got to where I had just been resting and eating a snack or two.

As soon as the bear sniffed around my gear it literally ran straight up a hill and out of sight. Absolutely no interest in anything except running as far away as possible as quickly as possible.

We carry an small air horn to scare things away but have never had to use it.

Also I put reflective tape on my spare paddle. I make a face on the paddles and prop them up beside the boat as little "sentries" esp if I am worried about the boat getting stepped on by a moose