In a message dated Mon, 7 Aug 2000 11:47:52 AM Eastern Daylight Time, snark_at_tulgey.org aka Glen Acord writes: > PS - this is similar of course to the problem of reefing hard on the bow and stern lines if you tie down the ends of your kayak. > [snip: ... nautical ignorance ...] > Is having taut bow and stern tie down lines a problem? What have people experienced or heard about this? 1 - You are applying forces to the boat, for which it was most likely not designed. Add to that: 2 - The tie-downs will provide only a small component of force in the direction opposing the movement, which you are trying to restrain (depending on the angle at which you tie them, of course). Therefore the tension in the line needs to be much greater than the actual force required to prevent movement; i.e. you have unnecessarily large forces acting on the boat. 3 - It is very hard to prevent lateral movement with steep tie-downs to the bumpers. 4 - In inherently flexible skin-on-frame boats, the forces applied by bumper tie-downs can lead to permanent hogging. In the case of rigid hulls, especially in conjunction with vibration, you could be weakening or actually destroying the integrity of the hull material. PE boats tend to buckle more or less permanently unless the pressure points of the roof rack coincide with bulkheads. My opinion: Bumper tie downs are at best a back-up system if you are worried that your primary roof rack attachment system might fail. Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com http://www.PouchBoats.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
I don't use tie downs. I use a 2x4 cut just a little longer than the cockpit with block spacers on the ends. I bolted two 2x4's laterally to my Yakima with holes to match holes in the block spacers. I use 8" cariage bolts with wing nuts to secure the boat to the rack. I use two tension staps as back up. It takes the same amount of time to secure the boat as with tie downs and its a lot tighter and secure. Just another way......bob klemick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated Mon, 7 Aug 2000 4:19:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Bob Klemick <klemick_at_home.com> writes: > ... I use a 2x4 cut just a little longer than the cockpit with block spacers on the ends. I bolted two 2x4's laterally to my Yakima with holes to match holes in the block spacers. I use 8" cariage bolts with wing nuts to secure the boat to the rack. I use two tension staps as back up. It takes the same amount of time to secure the boat as with tie downs and its a lot tighter and secure. Just another way......bob klemick Hi, Bob! Sounds like an interesting way to go. Could you describe it in a little more detail, please? Which way does the 2x4 "longer than the cockpit" run? What are the dimensions of the block spacers? What type of boat are you car topping here? Thanks! Ralph C. Hoehn Ralph_at_PouchBoats.com http://www.PouchBoats.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Here is a drawing but I'll also try to describe it. The boat is a 17' Aleutian (handcrafted) with a 24" x 17" cockpit. The 2x4 is just a little longer than the 24", say 28", just so it hangs and has enough to lay on the inverted inside of the boat (bow to stern). The 2 spacers extend down from the 2x4 to flush with the top of the cockpit rim. For my application I just pegged and glued to 2x4 blocks together and then pegged and glued them to the 2x4 inside the boat. Then drilled a 3/8" hole through all for the carriage bolts. I have a Yakima rack to which I U-bolted two 2x4's laterally with matching 3/8" holes for the carriage bolts and wingnuts. The rack is not in the drawing. Hope this isn't more confusing......bob klemick [demime 0.92b removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of roofassy.jpg] *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
To revive an old subject of tie downs for car topping. I've recently come up with a new method for tying down my kayaks. Let me explain - I used to use bow and stern tie downs to rings set in the front/side and rear side bumpers respectivly. It was pointed out that this system woudn't stop lateral (forward/back) movement very well, except as a back up system and tying them tight would definatly put some strain on the boat that it wasn't designed for. Here's what I've come up with - tying a loop around the front bar to the bow D ring and back to the other side, around the bar on that side and attach it. With cam buckles it creates a fairly tight hold, minimal movement and really holds the kayak from moving forward. I use a similar system for holding the stern to the back bar. Along with a couple of lines around the body of the kayak to prevent side to side movement, it seems to work fairly well (no noticible movement when driving at highway speeds). Comments? Anyone got a clever name for this system (or is there already one?). BTW: this is being used on a yakima system with hulley rollers on back and a saddle up front, but this is fairly irrelevent to the system above. Glen Acord - Eugene, OR Member: WKCC, OKCC, UO/OP, OOPS Boats: Neckie Rip (WW) and waiting on my SK. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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