RE: [Paddlewise] Cockpit Covers

t 11:45 AM 12/1/98 -0900, David Seng wrote:
>Maybe somebody can tell me why I shouldn't be doing this, but I simply
>avoid the whole issue by carrying my kayaks mounted upside down...

Some kayaks are built so lightly on the top deck - i.e. 1 or 2 layers of
glass that they can't handle their own weight when upside down very well -
I have two like that, the others you can mount any way you want.

Several other posts talked about standing water. I have actually peeled a
rack loose (back in the days when I only tied the ends of one of the boats
to the bumpers, instead of all of them). I had 4 large sea kayaks (one was
a triple without a forward bulkhead) with big cockpits mounted on my roof
rack. They stuck out about 5-7 feet ahead of the forward rack (Small roof
and the boats were all between 17 and 21 feet long), I had left them on the
roof after a Sunday return because I was going paddling again on Wednesday.
It rained hard Sunday through Tuesday, and on Tuesday afternoon I had to
brake hard from 45 mph and I ended up with significant but fairly minor
damage. The one boat that was tied to the bumper kept things from flying
off completely, but the sheet metal on the gutter actually ripped and the
boats hit the hood hard enough to crease it in several spots. there was
about 1.5-2 inches of water in each cockpit and the damage came from the
weight of the water hitting the end of the cockpit at 45mph when I stopped.

So yes, out here in the rainy side of the US we do have to at least think
about keeping water out of our boats.

-Saul

At 11:45 AM 12/1/98 -0900, David Seng wrote:
>Maybe somebody can tell me why I shouldn't be doing this, but I simply
>avoid the whole issue by carrying my kayaks mounted upside down - the
>wet side towards the water.  They don't look as cool as if they were in
>the cradles right side up, but I'm not really all that "cool" of a guy -
>lean a bit more towards the "practical" end of the personality
>spectrum<g>.  Seriously though - am I possibly causing damage?  I
>adjusted the cradles so that they provide the maximum amount of surface
>mating (leave it alone<g>) area.  My kayak practically lives on top of
>my Cherokee (with bow & stern lines tied down) and in a rainforest area
>like this we tend to get just a bit of rain....
>
>Dave Seng
>Juneau, Alaska
>
>> > Caution note: in very heavy or sustained rains, you can 
>> pick up enough
>> > rainwater in a cockpit to collapse your rack
>> 
>> I've heard that fallacy too. Over enough days maybe but 
>> taking 6" of rain over night on a single, that's about 2" of 
>> water in the cockpit. Remember the opening is a lot smaller 
>> than the floor area of a standard (not folding) kayak. 
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