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. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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. Canoeists do this all the time. > 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>. I always thought they looked dumb sitting open side up. Mind you, quite often cool & dumb seem to go together. Just watch teenagers! :-) If carried open side down they don't need a cover to keep rain out. Bird droppings collect on the bottom instead of the deck & get washed off next time you launch. -- Lloyd Bowles The Mad Canoeist "Keep the open side up!" http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/clearstreets/358/index.html *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Lloyd Bowles wrote: > > 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. > > Canoeists do this all the time. Some one correct me if I am wrong, but I have been given to understand that on non-plastic hardshell kayaks, the hulls are much stronger than the decks. If you place such a kayak upside down, you are pressing the whole boat very heavily down on its weakest surface and therefore raising the potential for damaging your boat. I know that some people carry folding kayaks upside down but I would not recommend it. In all folding kayaks, the framework at the keel is stronger than the framework at the deck. People who mount a Klepper upside down are rest the entire boat on its deck bar which is thinner and less structured than the keel portion. Same with Folbots, Nautiraids, Feathercrafts where the keel bars are generally thicker (or doubled up) than the top bar. Of course, the strongest part of the boat is its side and is probably the preferable way of carrying a kayak. 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/ ***************************************************************************
The current issue of Canoe & Kayak, the annual buyer's guide issue, has a section on "winterizing" your boats. This includes along with some good repair and cleaning tips, some suggestions on storage that I believe point out some things you would also want to take into account when car-topping. Ralph has echoed some of these tips below, that I believe were in this article. Regards, Chris Bush rdiaz_at_ix.netcom.com wrote: > > Lloyd Bowles wrote: > > > > 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. > > > > Canoeists do this all the time. > > Some one correct me if I am wrong, but I have been given to understand > that on non-plastic hardshell kayaks, the hulls are much stronger than > the decks. If you place such a kayak upside down, you are pressing the > whole boat very heavily down on its weakest surface and therefore > raising the potential for damaging your boat. > > I know that some people carry folding kayaks upside down but I would not > recommend it. In all folding kayaks, the framework at the keel is > stronger than the framework at the deck. People who mount a Klepper > upside down are rest the entire boat on its deck bar which is thinner > and less structured than the keel portion. Same with Folbots, > Nautiraids, Feathercrafts where the keel bars are generally thicker (or > doubled up) than the top bar. > > Of course, the strongest part of the boat is its side and is probably > the preferable way of carrying a kayak. > > 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/ > *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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. >*************************************************************************** >PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List >Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net >Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net >Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ >*************************************************************************** > > *************************************************************************** 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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