Our extended summer and fact that the local kayak manufacturer (Seaward) is moving to Vancouver Island prompted me to purchase my first kayak late in the summer. With fall and winter approaching I expect to be paddling our inland lakes until mid November and hopefully a few weekend trips to Vancouver to paddle in the warmer coastal climate. This prompts me to ask two questions. 1. What is the current thinking regarding clothing for cold water (and air) paddling. So far I have got by with shorts T shirt and sandals but that will not last for long. 2. Kayaks are a very desirable commodity in Vancouver. How does one secure a kayak to the roof of a pickup truck in the big smoke while sleeping soundly at night ? grant Grant A. Thompson Summerland, BC *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net on 09/27/98 01:52:11 PM Please respond to owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net cc: Subject: [Paddlewise] Clothing & Security |2. Kayaks are a very desirable commodity in Vancouver. How does one secure |a kayak to the roof of a pickup truck in the big smoke while sleeping |soundly at night ? | |grant Here is what I do after thinking and looking at locks and cables for a fairly long time. My local paddling store had a device called a yak bar. Its a square metal tube with flanges fit over the cockpit of the boat. There are two pieces of tube with one fitting in the other. This allows the tube to be adjusted to the length of your cockpit. There are holes in the tube so you can put a lock in place. The yak bar is very similar to The Club for cars. A person cannot use the kayak until the yak bar is removed. I lock the yak bar so that the key hole in the padlock is facing up. This makes it much easier to unlock but more importantly it makes it all but impossible to attack the padlocks lock bar. To keep the kayak on the truck I found a locking cable at Home Depot. The cable is made by kryptonite and was designed to lock up equipment on construction sites. Obviously, there are many tools at a work site to be used to cut a cable and the company thought about the design. The cable is at least 5/8 of an inch think and coated with plastic. One end of the cable locks into the other end of the cable. The cable is thick enough so that the cable cutters at the same store were not large enough to get a grip on the cable. Given time and a hack saw you could eventually cut through either the yak bar or the cable but it is going to take a long time..... I put the cable through the yak bar and then loop it under my roof racks. On my SO's jeep, I also wrap the cable through the roof rack for good measure. I think this is about as secure as you can get. I wish the yak bar was thicker with a better grade of metal. The weak link in this is the yak bar. Cut through this and you have the boat. But its going to take some time to cut through. And if the thief is not thinking he will have to cut through two bars. I hope that the sight of the very think kryptoknite cable loops through the roof rack would scare of most people. Last year my boat was on the top of my truck from May until August. The cables sold by the rack makers and for bikes are just not think enough to stop someone with a decent set of bolt cutters. Hope this helps... Dan McCarty *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
On Mon, 28 Sep 1998, Dan McCarty wrote: > owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net on 09/27/98 01:52:11 PM > Please respond to owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > cc: > Subject: [Paddlewise] Clothing & Security > > |2. Kayaks are a very desirable commodity in Vancouver. How does one secure > |a kayak to the roof of a pickup truck in the big smoke while sleeping > |soundly at night ? > | > |grant > <snip> > > To keep the kayak on the truck I found a locking cable at Home Depot. The cable > is made by kryptonite and was designed to lock up equipment on construction > sites. Obviously, there are many tools at a work site to be used to cut a > cable and the company thought about the design. The cable is at least 5/8 of > an inch think and coated with plastic. One end of the cable locks into the > other end of the cable. The cable is thick enough so that the cable cutters at > the same store were not large enough to get a grip on the cable. Given time > and a hack saw you could eventually cut through either the yak bar or the cable > but it is going to take a long time..... > > I put the cable through the yak bar and then loop it under my roof racks. On > my SO's jeep, I also wrap the cable through the roof rack for good measure. <snip> You may want to find a way to run the cable into your car and close (and lock) the car door on it - with the cable lock in the car. Otherwise you are vulnerable to someone simply removing your racks from your car. I was at REI the other day replacing a part of my Yakima rack, and talked for a while to someone there who installs them on cars. He said he'd seen one stolen right off a car, notwithstanding that it had the little lock Yakima sells for those racks. So don't count on those locks. And running the cable into the car, so the boat can't get taken even if someone tried to take off your racks, might be a good idea. Joy Hecht Arlington VA *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
What is a Yak Bar? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Joy E. Hecht wrote: > > You may want to find a way to run the cable into your car and close (and > lock) the car door on it - with the cable lock in the car. Otherwise you > are vulnerable to someone simply removing your racks from your car. > > I was at REI the other day replacing a part of my Yakima rack, and talked > for a while to someone there who installs them on cars. He said he'd > seen one stolen right off a car, notwithstanding that it had the little > lock Yakima sells for those racks. So don't count on those locks. > > And running the cable into the car, so the boat can't get taken even if > someone tried to take off your racks, might be a good idea. > I second that, I mean the vulnerability of the locks used to lock roofracks. I had the rear one of my Thule bars taken from my car (why one? I don't know) and it was the locking variety. Boulter of Earth sells something call the SureLock, which is a cable that works in various ways. But one feature on it is a sliding ball type device (really conically shaped) that you hang inside your car throuugh your door. You close the door and slide the device on the cable until it snugs up against the inside of the closed door. As an aside. I didn't even notice that I did not have the rear rack until I went to put my Klepper Aerius I and two K-Lights brought by Doug Simpson, owner of Feathercraft, up on the roof. The mini-van has a built in roofrack; so I was a bit confused. We were in a hurry and it was a day in the 20's, so we just rushed to tie all three boats up there to go for a harbor paddle. On our return, we decided to knock down the boats on Broadway on the Upper West Side. As I knocked down the Klepper, a wooden stringer came apart in my hand. (It had obviously split because the boat had been cinched down hard against the bare built in rack without padding or cradle.) Doug looked over at me and dryly said "Does that happen often, Ralph?" Wouldn't you know it, the only time a wooden part ever broke on me was around the head of Feathercraft!!! ralph diaz -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Ralph Diaz . . . Folding Kayaker newsletter PO Box 0754, New York, NY 10024 Tel: 212-724-5069; E-mail: rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com "Where's your sea kayak?"----"It's in the bag." ----------------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
| What is a Yak Bar? The Yak Bar is two pieces of square metal tubing each with a fitting that goes over the kayak cockpit rim. The two pieces fit inside each other so that they can be adjusted to fit different size cockpits. There are holes in the two pieces so that you can put a lock through the Yak Bar securing it in the cockpit. With the Yak Bar in place the kayak cannot be paddled. It also makes a convenient carry handle when moving the kayak. Hope this helps... Dan *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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