Re: [Paddlewise] Wind forces on roof mounted kayaks

From: Kirk Olsen <kolsen_at_imagelan.com>
Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 14:41:41 -0400 (EDT)
On Wed, 22 Apr 1998, Mark Zen wrote:

> On Wed, 22 Apr 1998, Kirk Olsen wrote:
> >>Could you explain to me why you use lines to the back of the vehicle?  I 
> >>almost always use 2 lines to the front of the car, but don't bother with any 
> >>lines to the back.
> 
> fast stops... what will keep your boat from flying forward in a quick
> stop??

The canoes I usually carry are 18.5 foot long marathon flatwater racing 
boats.  These boats overhang the back of the car by several feet.  The
overhang at the back is slightly more than the distance from the front tie
downs to the bumper.  I decided to stop using a rear rope after 
noticing that the front ropes would retension before the rear ropes would, 
even in the case of a boat launching forward.

> i tie my boats with 2 straps around the body, and a bow and stern line
> most all the time...

I use 2 straps, each doubled over, around the body of the boat, then one line
to each side of the front bumper of the vehicle.  With my singles canoe
I also like to use a foam pad on the roof rack so that the gunwales sink
into the foam when I tension the straps.  This has really cut down on
the amount the boat wiggles when encountering crosswinds or trucks.  The
singles canoe has extreme tumblehome so the straps are about 5 inches from
the gunwales where they attach to the rack.  This gap prevents the straps
from holding the gunwales in place when the boat tries to shift.

kirk
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************
Received on Wed Apr 22 1998 - 11:47:22 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:29:56 PDT