SOB, dropped it

first time in many years of boating, putting the composite kayak on top of the CRV, went to the back to get a strap and a gust of wind blew it off the car. i looked up in time to see it smack me in the forehead on it’s way to the asphalt. made me think of that guy on here who dropped his QCC and had to get it fixed. this made a terrible racket and left some gel coat marks on the road, but i think i got lucky. a few spider webs, which i think are a result of this drop but not sure. didn’t want to look any closer in the moment, but she seems ok.

what a drag, i guess it was bound to happen eventually… advice, suggestions… make sure you’ve got the straps on the boat FIRST before you put the boat on in high winds… dam…

Dropping kayaks from car racks

– Last Updated: Jun-01-08 2:27 AM EST –

Bummer! Sorry about your casualty, but I appreciate your sharing it with us. Last summer, we were putting our twin Loon up on the roof as a storm was breaking - the wind caught it and, for a second, I thought we were going to lose this heavy boat by having it blown out of our hands!

WE don't hear this caution enough, for all the safety-speak, about being aware of how quickly the wind can turn our precious lightweight boats into aircraft. I gratefully take your reminder to heart and plan to come up with a precautionary loading protocol - perhaps having a rack-attached bungee on a clip to temporarily lash over the boat while I'm strapping it down for travel. Having a set of extra hands always helps - as well as watching what the wind is doing. I remember an old adage from my aviation days that went something like, "Never turn your back on an un-chocked/untethered plane." Maybe we should adopt the adage, "Never turn your back on an unsecured kayak on the rack."

I hope your boat turns out to be okay.

P.S. Spoken like a true kayak-lover . . . your every concern was about your kayak - not a word about your poor forehead!

no doubt
i do it so often, i guess i got cocky. the boat’s pretty tough, i’m sure it’s only cosmetic, dog knows it’s beat up enough through general use… 6 months old, it looks 3 years old. all one colour, every rock encounter leaves a helluva scar…

That’s why a OT Disco…
is so good.

I was loading one on the top of my truck once and the same as you: Before I had a chance to put the first strap on a gust of wind blew it off, and after hitting the pavement it took a few bounces.

Did absolutely no harm to the boat!



Cheers,

JackL

slightly different senario
Once I was paddling with a group and as we were loading up, one of the men came over and said here, let me help with that…as I was saying no thanks he grabbed the stern of my yak and shoved it onto the rack (I had a small p/u at the time), he shoved it right over the cab, it sailed right over the hood, creasing it along the way, and the boat skidded about 15 feet over the asphalt!!! He said oh, sorry! It actually didn’t do much damage to the poly Dagger Baja, but I was livid!!

It really hurts your feelings when your
baby hits the deck. But most are Very tough.

full sunlight now
i’ll have another look over today, we’ll see how she fared… ironically, i’m renting her to a student for a course i teach today, i’ll blame any damage on them!

String…
now don’t you be dropping your baby on the deck…or we may have to call CPS on you!

My biggest fear
of owning a beautiful kayak is hurting it. Maybe if I do get one the best thing to do is drop it or scratch it as soon as I get it then I won’t go through life fearing the day.



Sounds logical but count on me doing it. I’ll be just like you and post when it happens.



Paddlin’ on

Richard

That was my approach.
And I still haven’t repaired it or paddled it yet.



Actually, I didn’t drop it on the concrete on purpose.

dropped, cracked a kevlar Mystic
Last summer I was taking my Impex Mystic off a car roof rack, using the pull-from-the-rear technique I use for unloading my truck. Watched in horror as the Mystic slipped sideways and fell 5 feet to the ground. And was cracked clear through. Well, that was educational! After years of plastic boats I found out that carbon kevlar, in a light layup, isn’t all that tough. There’s a good repair guy in Raleigh, NC, and he fixed my boat just fine. But now I’m very, very careful when I’m loading and unloading. And as much as I hate the weight of plastic boats, I might consider one for some uses.

GT

in NC

check my rear-view mirrors

– Last Updated: Jun-01-08 6:51 PM EST –

you'll notice that the right one is the original factory blue and the left one is a cheap, black, after-market replacement. i learned real quick that the 1st thing you do when you put the boat on the roof is to secure it with at least one tie-down. that 60 lb dirigo took that mirror off like a guillotine. the dealer wanted $485 to put a matching mirror back on.

Oops
Another similar instance happened to me but with my canoe and a heavy frost on top of the car.The car was at a bit of a slant so when I laid the boat on top she took off and bounded off the hood.Didn’t hurt the canoe, but momma wasn’t happy with the ding on the car.My lesson learned.

Who?
Thankfully I don’t know him, yet, but who repaired your boat in Raleigh?

Haven’t dropped any real babies,
but I hurt worse than my canoe did when I dropped it. It lost a little gel coat.

wide cross bars
dropped her far enough from the vehicle, that i didn’t have to incur damage to the mirror, but i’ve heard those tales of woe a few times…