Beautiful work.
I've been thinking about outfitting my Bell Morningstar with some float bags because I used to use her as a solo canoe. Never could come to grips with the garishly-bright bag colors, though. It would be really nice to have something in there in case I flipped, but I really don't paddle enough to warrant it. One bum knee sure takes a lot of fun out of the day!
Only the yellow ones remain readily available on the market, of the bright colors, at least in the U.S. I am having a hard time finding a matching red center bag for my canoe. The silver/gray and light blue vinyl ones are very available though. One thing to consider about installing bags... you really shouldn't store and transport your canoe with them in. Mine come right out by unsnapping the center strap buckle and deflating them. Then I can put them up in the house to protect them from rodents and other critters. The only problem with removing/reinstalling is that one needs a way to reinflate them, other than by huffing and puffing. I use a shop vac here at home and have to be careful not to overinflate. In fact, they should be left a little slack to allow for heat expansion, particularly dark colors like mine.
If you don't need a whole lot of flotation (my composite Morningstar has built in air tanks), a popular alternative to bags is closed cell foam. It can be found with peel-n-stick backing even. The main reason to install bags is to lessen the likelyhood of a serious pin in an upset in swifter water, and make recovery easier. For really serious whitewater, my Sunburst should have a pair of 60" solo bags like some of my earlier illustrations, not the shorter tandem bags I installed.
There are several otehr alternatives I saw while researching options. One is to use dunnage bags used to cushion cargo in trucks. Another is to use an inflatable gym ball. Like those giant play balls seen at Walmart, but heavier duty. Both are less expensive and easily removable.
It goes without saying (but I will say anyway) that the more water you displace (prevent from entering) an overturned canoe, the easier the recovery will be. After paddling my Bell a bit, I decided that the air tanks would suffice for that one considering my intended use. On both of my Old Towns I removed the blow molded factory seats for more comfortable ones and now they both depend solely on hull flotation. The Sunburst I intend to use of faster water where a swamping/upset/pin is a stronger possibility, thus my addition of the air bags, even though the Royalex hull has an ABS foam core. Whetehr I add a center bag or not, I will usually be carrying one or two Seal Line Baja dry bags strapped in as well, and they will exclude even more water and augment flotation. I don't intend to do steep creeking or go over waterfalls, so no need to go overboard and outfit it like a modern playboat, all airbag except a cramped, foam filled cockpit area for the paddler.
