Re: [Paddlewise] Racks, again

Hi Joshua -

I cartop my Greenlander by myself with the following system:

Thule racks, using H2Otogo saddles in front and Hully Rollers in back.  
"In back" on my station wagon means by the back seat windows, not way 
in the back near the hatchback.  Thule (or Yakima?) sells little adapters 
that will allow the Hully Rollers to go on the Thule racks.  They are called 
Mighty Mounts and are relatively cheap.   All components can be mixed 
and matched with the right adapters.

My procedure is as follows:  

Put a towel on top of the car, covering the area where the roof meets the 
back.  Put a piece of foam, pad, or towel on the ground 10 feet or so 
behind the car.  Carry the boat at waist height until you get near the car.  
 As the bow nears the back of the car, angle it up a little so that the bow 
will rest on on the towel on the roof and the stern will sit on the pad.  

Now move nearer the stern of the resting boat (never taking your hand off 
it is is windy), lift it up and push forward until the boat is able to touch the 
Hully Rollers (mine are fairly far forward of the rear of the car).  Now the 
boat is supported on the Hully Rollers, the rear of the car, and your 
hands or shoulder.  Now push all the way forward until the boat is in the 
position you want.  Remove towel and pad and put back in car.

For about 3 days, I tried to use the extension bar that Thule sells, but it 
just didn't make any sense for me (short) or for my boat (big and long).  I 
would have had to push it way up over my head to go over the edges of 
the load bars and again over the edges of the saddles, and the boat 
ended up in an unstable position where it was likely to fall.  I still can't 
figure out how the extension bar could be useful.

I also tried for a few days to use the saddles both front and rear, but 
found the Hully Rollers really eased the pushing forward motion.  So now 
I probably have the most expensive rack system on earth, what with all 
the things I've tried, but I look it at this way:  now I have spares!

The Hydro Glide saddles, a newer option, look like they might possibly 
work as well as the rollers in the rear, but I haven't tried them.

Best of luck!

Anne Burton
Falmouth, Maine

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