What's a good kayak saddle?

Sunapee
Actually, i did the same thing. My initial problem was that they had a tendency to scoot out from under the boat as I was driving. Solved that with Velcro, but just some non-skid stuff would probably work also. Or something between the blocks to keep them from getting further apart. See these http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/1072435921040906646JwZCno

Home made
I cut wooden saddles to fit the hull and pad them with carpet. I have hauled my boats thousands of miles with no damage I usually use 2X material but have used 3/4" plywood. They both work. Make a template out of cardboard. Angle stock makes a good support instead of round bars and is easier to attach to.

Mako Saddles - how come?
Just bought a pair (with felt pads to match) and by just looking at them they seem to have a fairly predefined oval shape. They will either fit or not fit a boat’s hull as they have very little flex it seems. Someone correct me if I’m wrong on this (I will do the same if I find out otherwise after I try them tonight).



In contrast, the Thule saddles I have have a flexible rubber band instead of a fixed plastic shape - it will conform to whatever contour you put it against. I think I may end-up manufacturing some sort of adapter for it to fit my rack and not use the Mako unless they fit perfectly.



I suppose I need to try them on my boat, but I can easily see that they will not work well on a hard-chined boat.



The foam or home-made wood + carpet options mentioned here should actually do a very good job.

TLC
I’ve used many saddles, both Yak and Thule. The best sets I’ve found so far are unfortunately no longer made. Yakima’s Land Shark saddles are big and noisy in the wind but cradle my plastic kayaks evenly with no marring or denting. The TLC saddles do the same but are quieter at 70mph, and if you can find a good used set, are among the best made. You can adjust the saddle angle to match your boat’s hull shape and they’re easy to mount. Yakima is famous for redesigning everything every year or two…a nice marketing tool for them, I guess. If they had kept making the TLC’s, I think they’d still be making money on them. If you can find a set of TLC’s or Land Sharks, go for it. Hully Rollers are great in principle, but unless you have the rollers mounted at the extreme rear of you rig, you’ll still have a high lift to get the boat to the rollers, and the small footprint the wheels make can dent your boat if they’re cinched down too tight. The new Yak Even Keel’s are low profile, but have a small footprint and on a round Yak bar, they like to spin on the bar while sliding the kayak on. I use a Thule bar and tower with TLC’s on our tall Toyota van and the Land Sharks on our shorter old Outback. Marketing aside, sometimes the old stuff just works better.