Re: [Paddlewise] Bow and Stern tie downs

Yikes.  That's a frightening story. . .  I gather from your follow-up that
there was not a factory rack onto which the Yakima towers attached, but just
the rain ledge attachments (or whatever you call them).  What kind of car?
I have always been wary of they bow/stern tie-downs, as it seems to me they
put a lot of stress on the boat (and if you leave them loose enough so that
they don't stress the boat, they just flop around in the wind and make
noise. . . ).  All of my cars have good factory racks and I use Thule (not
that it's any better) stuff on all of them.  For anything other than the
half-mile from my house to the local harbor, I use two sets of straps -- the
first set straps the boat to the Thule saddles; the second set wraps around
the boat and under the factory rack.  That way even if something on the
Thule system were to fail, there is still a strong attachment to the factory
system.  I can't imagine this failing.  Any comments?  How many people
really use bow and stern lines?
Mark

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