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CCA Team Tests Covid Barrier for Longer Rides

By Alf Cooley

In mid-January a New York Times article caught boaters’ attention, for it focused on the Holy Grail: what is the trick for minimizing covid transmission between driver and passenger? The study at issue confirmed what we already knew, that four windows open is the safest way to go, with just a 0.2 percent to 2 percent chance of infecting the other passenger. (See Jan-Feb 2021 Cruiser News Briefs.)

Unbeknownst to the Times, though, a CCA research team—consisting of Gus Anderson and me—was finishing trials of a new low-cost fore-and-aft plastic barrier between driver and passenger, intended for up to two-hour trips to nigh-forgotten paddling meccas. The purpose is to minimize the transfer of air from one side of the car to the other.

Here is how to build one yourself for about $33. The design requires:

A 5-foot piece of "Suntuf" clear plastic, 2 feet deep, suspended fore and aft in the car between the passengers. (An 8-foot corrugated piece is $28.) A 6" x 3" notch is cut out in front to accommodate the front mirror.
A 6-foot plastic pipe, 5/8 inch in diameter, from which to suspend the plastic. The length is to allow it to be affixed with rubber bands, stiff copper wire, or duct tape to the front mirror support.
5 large alligator clamps
5 sections of chopsticks cut to 1½ inches, attached to the plastic sheet with duct tape. These keep the thing from slipping out of the alligator clamps, a big problem on Gus's and my experimental run.
2 straps (yellow in the photo) to suspend the apparatus from the roof rack.

On Jan. 2, Gus and I field-tested a prototype, driving an hour out to Cedar Creek with all four windows open and masks strapped on—not to mention parkas. We sat in the two front seats; it was brisk. We made another test on an improved model going to Violettes Lock, and giddy with success, we made a long-distance run down to Fredericksburg on March 25. Both lab rats are in rude good health, have now received our two shots, and warmly recommend the covid barrier, which we are driving to Atlanta for CDC approval next week.