Re: [Paddlewise] Best all round car for kayakers?

I frequently carry two kayaks, one of which is 19' long, on a Subaru legacy
(lower than the outback).  I left the factory rack untouched but didn't
trust it's strength and the close spacing of the bars.  I put on Yakima's
hybrid system with hulley rollers on the back and saddles up front.  This
system utilizes the factory rack for the back bar and gutterless towers for
the front bar which is rated at twice the carrying capacity of the factory
rack recommendations.  This gives six points of contact with the roof.  It
increased the spacing and lowered the front bar in relation to the back.
Thus the wind pushes down somewhat which I believe is less likely to result
in an airborne kayak.  The kayaks are a breeze to load and unload.  They
ride rock solid.

Another important consideration to me, being a paramedic, is safety.  The
all wheel drive and antilock brakes are amazing.  The lower center of
gravity helps,too.  But most importantly, this car has perfored superbly in
crach tests.  My insurance rep. stated that it is up there with Volvos,
Mercedes, and Ford tauruses??! 


					Bill

  At 10:33 PM 10/8/00 -0400, Sailboat Restorations, Inc. wrote:
>> I like the Subaru Outback but found the roof rails are quite a bit closer
>> together than on the Subaru Forester. If you want to fit two kayaks on the
>> roof check this out first! One of my US customer's last week told me they
>> fell for this mistake and were shocked when they found they couldn't fit
>> their two boats on the Outback.
>
>I frequently carry two kayaks on the roof of my Outback.  I have carried
>three.  I have also carried two canoes, and (separately) a twelve foot
>rowing skiff.  It's a simple matter.  When you add the Thule racks (I
>removed the factory cross-bars, although you could leave them in place --
>they slide fore and aft), you just install slightly wider bars than are
>standard.  The bars extend a few inches outside the fore-aft factory rack
>system.  The outside saddle mounts outside the factory rack.  It looks quite
>natural, since even with the extra width the bar doesn't extend anywhere
>near the actual width of the car.  I see this all the time on Outbacks.  I
>actually have room for two sea kayaks and the smallest Thule roof box (in
>between the yaks).  I can't imagine having a problem with this.  It's way
>simple.
>Mark
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