On long trips I put a strap over the cockpit cover and around the boat. I’ve lost a cockpit cover that tore off at highway speeds. Straps go in front and to the rear of the cockpit.
Thule If cowling is the same thing as coaming, then the drawing contradicts the instructions as the straps are clearly over the coaming in the drawing. The boat in the drawing appears to have a large cockpit.
That’s why I couldn’t figure out what cowling was.
Not sure what the folks thought they were writing, but the general rule is to put straps near/over the bulkheads on either side of the cockpit as this is the strongest part of the hull. Usually, the bars of a rack, and thus the tie down points, are pretty close to this anyway.
If a cover is used, it seems prudent to hold it down with another strap/bungee.
Seals cockpit cover with adjustable shock cord, grab loop and front clip.
Pool practice tomorrow so I may bring the boat outdoors and see how it loads. It has a standard keyhole cockpit and I’m pretty sure the straps will fall fore and aft of the cockpit. Eddyline’s lipped coaming should be beneficial: no strap can move over it.
No sense in bringing the kayak home as all I see is frozen water and it’s supposed to snow most of next week.
Reasons to avoid going over coaming Once the car starts traveling at highway speeds, you want to have the boat strapped or roped so that if it does start to shift back or forward there is something that will limit that drift. Loose straps or knots that you swore were cinched up well happen at times.
If the coaming is higher than the strap on the deck, it’ll limit how far the boat can move. If the strap is over an elevated coaming and the boat slips back, you now have a good two inches of scary play in the strap.
As mentioned above, for a boat with bulkheads there is also the issue of getting over the bulkheads so you are at a point of more hull strength. So you can really cinch down.
But for a plastic boat, that coaming is often elevated and would help to stop the boat from leaving your roof.
Depending on the manufacturer there may be strength concerns about whether the pressure would hurt the welding. But the traveling safety factor seems a lot more important.
Best laid plans… Was just getting to leave for the pool this morning when a call came in about a family emergency. No loading practice until the next pool session.
My cockpit is 31.5" long and the Hullavator cradles are around 36" apart, so the straps will be on the hull, not the coaming. Stern bulkhead is not far behind the seat; quite certain the bow strap will not come anywhere near that bulkhead but don’t think that will be an issue.
What came as a major surprise was how easy it is to attach and detach those Hullavator cradles from the rack. Kfbrady was on point when he mentioned that in the thread about load assist systems.