Does anyone have advice on how to transport a 1 man canoe plus kayak on a subaru forester?
Thanks.
Do you want “easy” or “cheap”?
– Last Updated: May-27-08 8:38 PM EST –
The easiest way is to buy some dedicated boat-hauling hardware. Start with a Yakima or Thule rack, and a set of cradles or J-hooks for the kayak (typical cradles hold the kayak right-side up, while J-hooks cradle the boat diagonally tipped most of the way onto one side). Using J-hooks allows the kayak to take up a lot less space, making more room for the canoe, but with just two boats, lack of space isn't really a problem. Any place that sells Yakima or Thule roof racks will be able to tell you what you need to know to mount such a rack on your particular car. These racks aren't cheap, but they are very easy to install and are very well built and strong.
The cheapest way is to rig up some kind of home-made contraption that attaches to the car's factory roof rack. On some cars, a pair of 2x4s fastened crosswise, one at the front of the factory rack and one at the rear, is pretty easy to arrange in a safe and satisfactory manner. How easy this is to do will depend on the nature of your existing roof rack.
Here are some photos of a combination of name-brand equipment and home-built modifications, changing a Yakima rack that's wide enough for just one canoe into a 2x4 rack that's wide enough for two, as well as an adapter to mount a kayak carrier on the 2x4s. A few days ago, this rack hauled two solo canoes and a kayak from Missouri to Wisconsin.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/559117128YWBecJ
check out these…
http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product_list.asp?deptid=1378
the canoe goes upside down on one side (strapped down by itself), the kayak goes right side up next to it (strapped down by itself.
I do it
I can put two canoes on my Subaru Forester.
I use a Yakima round bar rack with two sets of canoe brackets. You can do it with one set of canoe brackets and whatever is used to hold a kayak up there.
I didn’t need the Yakima system until I wanted to carry two boats at once.
rack
I would think a Thule Hull A Port on one side ( kayak lays on side, leaves lots of roof on other 1/2 of rack ) and the canoe on the otehr side could be done. I carry 2 kayaks with 2 hull a ports easily, and think there would be enough room for a canoe on one side and a kayak on the other. This is carried ( one Aquaterra Chinook large kayak and one Necky Manitou Sport smaller 'yak ) on a 1996 VW Golf, not exactly a large car.
Go to the Thule and Yakima websites
Select your car’s make and model, and they will help you choose the set up. I have a set of Yakima Towers designed for the Forester, 58 inch bars, and a set of J-cradles. I’ve carried an assortment of bikes and kayaks on top, and it would easily carry a canoe and kayak. Thule/Yakima racks aren’t cheap, but they make it easy to load your stuff very securely. Worth every penny in peace of mind.
Do it all the time
I have a 1999 Forester with Yakima racks. My bars are only wide enough to carry two solo canoes and I have hauled two solo canoes from central Iowa to the Ozarks plenty of times. However, the longer bars are wider than the vehicle so I put tennis balls on the end of each bar. It’s a visible reminder that the bar is there, and even if you hit your head the blow is softened.
Piggy-back 'em
Don’t hesitate to go vertical. If the canoe can be tied to your existing racks, bottom-up, just throw the kayak on top of that, throw across another pair of lines, and just like that you have two boats racked. Usually, the kayak is shorter than the canoe, and I run lines from the kayak’s bow and stern around the canoe (both sides) and tie off to the vehicle frame. If you have biners or steel rings on the carry rope of the canoe, you can route the lines through those and it assures the top boat stays pointed in the same general direction as the bottom boat.
If you are going to be carrying both boats on a regular basis, you probably do want to migrate to some better solution. But if expediency is needed, you can probably piggy-back 'em this afternoon with your existing equipment.
I’ve followed vehicles on shuttle that have boats stacked high, but loose and seen a lot of movement of the top boats. Movement isn’t something you want, but the boats don’t have to be glued down. As long as you have belly lines and bow and stern tied off, the boat can wobble all over. It’s not gonna go anywhere.
~~Chip
Vertical - side by side
I’ve stacked vertically (as above) plus have put up to 4 boats side by side on edge. You need to have a vertically mounted support and tie both boats to it. Having vertical supports on the outside (especially in the front) will greatly help drifting. Secure lines front, & sides are essential.
Foam blocks on the crossbars will help cushion the boat(s).
If you are handy with wood, you can make your own “stackers”. I’ve used 1 x 3 oak and cut out a pattern to match the cross section of the bar it has to fit on (round for Yakima, or aero for many factory racks). Slit the wood from the bottom a few inches past the top of the bar so one section is free and put a few bolts & wing nuts to tighten it together once over the crossbar.
Vertical - side by side
I’ve stacked vertically (as above) plus have put up to 4 boats side by side on edge. You need to have a vertically mounted support and tie both boats to it. Having vertical supports on the outside (especially in the front) will greatly help drifting. Secure lines front, & sides are essential.
Foam blocks on the crossbars will help cushion the boat(s).
If you are handy with wood, you can make your own “stackers”. I’ve used 1 x 3 oak and cut out a pattern to match the cross section of the bar it has to fit on (round for Yakima, or aero for many factory racks). Slit the wood from the bottom a few inches past the top of the bar so one section is free and put a few bolts & wing nuts to tighten it together once over the crossbar.
When you get close to the put-in where
you’ll meet your paddling buddies, turn both boats SIDEWAYS on the racks. Keep a straight face.