Kayaks are wet
It’s advisable to keep one around since water will get into that cockpit. I’m lazy about hanging onto mine and end up sitting in water a lot, but it’d be better if I carried one.
Maiden Road Trip…
… didn’t lose either.
As I took them off I swapped one around and found the cockpit fits better between the Hullraisers. Downside, I can’t open the back hatch wo/loosening the straps.
The other thing I thought about was wrapping the center two straps around the rails and not the crossbar for more security.
I ordered 5 sets of the strapjackets and will post a review of them.
Also I’m going to make some straps for attaching the bow lines to the side of the hood.
Thanks for all the help
Sweeper
my two cents
A friend and I can be a bit anal about having the bow of the boat at the front of the car/pickup/suv. Another friend just throws his boat on any which way. Realistically, as long as it rides well it shouldn’t matter. I wouldn’t cut the straps. I just find somewhere to tie the loose ends off at. If you are handy with knots, ropes are just as good. I used to use just ropes, I started using straps mostly because they came with a new J style cradle I have. I did find that most friends were not able to help me tie boats down with just ropes… apparently there are not enough former boy scouts in South Dakota. Also, I have heard that you should be wary of stern lines. If something happens to the straps and bow line, you will be dragging the boat behind the vehicle. This is not my experience just what I have heard somewhere. I, personally, don’t use a stern or bow line, but I have a pickup rack with nearly 6 feet between cross bars.
ropes concentrate load on plastic hull
and is more likely to cause deformation on some kayaks/canoes. Look at the hull of a Royalex canoe that’s tied down with rope on a hot day.
bow and stern lines should be opposed
Maybe I missed it, but I didn’t notice that anyone has pointed out that the bow and stern lines should not be parallel, as they are in your pic.
Ideally you want the bow/stern lines opposing each other’s pull. If the stern line goes forward to the bumper (pulling the boat forward), then the bow line should go aft to the hood (pulling the boat backwards). That way the bow and stern line are keeping eachother in tension, rather than causing the other to go slack when tightened. On your car, this could be accomplished by attaching loops of webbing to a bolt on the firewall, so they can protrude from between the windshield and the hood. For station wagons, pickups, and suvs (all cars with more roof in back than in front) this is often a better location for the bow line anchor point.
True…
… and there will be a difference when I swap them around to put them on bow first, the handles will line up different and I’m going to move the tiedowns to the side of the hood.
Having said that, the hull straps tightened first don’t allow the kayak to move when tightening the bow/stern straps.
Thanks again
straps
You mentioned that you are a “rope guy”. Is there a reason you are using straps for your bow and stern lines? I find that straps really flap around a lot up there, and while I prefer straps around the boat, I greatly prefer ropes for the bow and stern lines because they’re so much quieter and less visually distracting to the driver.
(Don’t go crazy tightening them though. Just get the slack out, as you probably already know.)
They came with the Hullriasers…
and thought I’d give them a try.
I’ll most likely end up with my ropes for the bow and stern lines.