I will probably get Thule for my '97 Honda. I am a bit worried about using the saddles on my Feathercraft K1. I was wondering about the "Watercraft carrier" by Rola Roof Racks -- http://www.rola.com.au It is some kind of a strap with a "swivel leg" that, according to the web page, "... are adjustable to suit the contours of almost any craft." Anyone ever used these or know anything about them? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Rene Milo wrote: > > I will probably get Thule for my '97 Honda. I am a bit worried about using > the saddles on my Feathercraft K1. I was wondering about the "Watercraft > carrier" by Rola Roof Racks -- http://www.rola.com.au > > It is some kind of a strap with a "swivel leg" that, according to the web > page, "... are adjustable to suit the contours of almost any craft." > > Anyone ever used these or know anything about them? I have not tried that rack system but it looks interesting. But why go all the way to ordering from Australia when the standard racks available here from Thule and Yakima are just fine? Even a set of wooden racks that you can buy from Voyageur will work well. (I use them attached to the factory roof rack these days instead of Thules. They are attached with U-bolts, flat plates and nuts/washers.) In the past, I have used Thule saddles with folding kayaks but found them a nuisance to work with since I use a number of different boats both hardshell and folding. This required constantly changing the saddles to fit each boat. If you intend to just transport one specific boat than you will not have that constant adjustment problem that I had with saddles. The saddles will certainly not hurt your K-1 in the least nor any other folding kayak for that matter. A better, universal solution with no need for adjustments for different boats is to just use the windsurfer pads. Both Thule and Yakima sell them and are also sold by kayak and watersports shops with their store logo on them. There are two kinds, ones that have slits at the bottom and attach around the bar; the other which must come in from the end and requires removing the bar from the tower first. I have been using the ones with the slits for years with no damage to the boats and no slippage. (In my current situation, they are from Jersey Paddler which have a particularly good cover and are fairly long. I have them permanently mounted on the Voyageur wooden bars and secured them with UV resistant self locking plastic wire ties.) The pads provide enough padding to protect any make or model of folding kayak. While it is nice to get the bars and pads lined up at crossribs it isn't really necessary. With the cushioning provided by the windsurfer pads, I have not seen breakage even to the thinnest of wooden longerons or stringers even when the bars are lined up with spots between cross ribs. Certainly you would not have a problem with the tough aluminum stringers on your K-1. With a folding kayak, as with any kayak, don't make your bow and stern tiedowns too tight. The strap or cord should be tightened to just a point where you can bend the line or strap a bit around your finger, i.e. _not_ guitar string tight. As for the straps lined up with the racks, pull those suckers down as tight as you can even to the point of making a serious indentation in the inflated sponsoned sides. I have not seen this hurt sponsons and is actually offers great security as there is no way a boat is going to slip either forward or backwards with its sides corseted in like that. Hypalon hulls also have a lot of grip in and of themselves whether on saddles or on the cushioned pads I mention here. The only cautions regarding the sponsons is to let a bit of air out on particularly hot days especially if you start off on a shady cool morning and are driving later in very hot sun. The sponsons will tend to expand as the air inside heats up and this may tear a sponson. Also if you are California and other places where you can get tremendous elevation increases quickly when driving over mountains, make certain to let lots of air out the sponsons. The expanding compressed air in the sponsons may hurt them in a sharply more rarified athmosphere. I have heard of several cases of this on the West Coast. It is not an East Coast problem, particularly in Florida. I guess that is another advantage of paddling in the sunshine state that Bob Denton has failed to mention. :-) If you are using Thule or Yakima racks, a good investment would be the kayak stacker upright bar that goes in the center of the rack bars. It offers an excellent tiedown point for the side straps and means the boat can't slip around anywhere. It is helpful in carrying a lot of boats because you can then lean them on their sides if you wish. It is the only thing I miss with my current wooden bars as it makes it easier to reach for threading through the straps. 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 08:14 PM 11/27/98 -0500, Rene Milo wrote: > >I will probably get Thule for my '97 Honda. I am a bit worried about using >the saddles on my Feathercraft K1. I was wondering about the "Watercraft >carrier" by Rola Roof Racks -- http://www.rola.com.au > The Feathercraft K1 can be very easily and securely carried upside down directly on padded cross bars. You will notice that the K1 deck is two flat planes. I have padded my Yakima bars with insulating foam and tie my K1 down resting on one of the deck's planes. It works very well with the racks mounted 6 or 7 feet apart on my truck. You may find this difficult on smaller vehicles. I don't know how well this will work on a narrower spread, possibly just as well; as the deck planes are wider immediately fore and aft of the cockpit. I have the Yakima saddles up there too for my other boat. They are too much trouble to adjust frequently but work fine if you don't plan on changing boats often. For awhile I carried the K1 in the saddles but didn't like the way they crimped the sp****ns. Bob Tellefson Santa Barbara Kayak Assocation http://www.sbka.org 805-683-9717 *************************************************************************** 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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