> The thread about rain accumulation makes me wonder how many transport kayaks > cockpit up and how many cockpit down. I tried both using a standard minivan > rack with el cheapo foam saddles and multiply redundant tie downs. My habit > now is to carry the kayak upside down. I tend to have them right side up. The decks on most fiberglass hardshell kayaks have a lighter layup on the top or deck than at the hull or bottom; the same with folding kayaks. So mounting them on a roofrack upside down may cause damage. With plastic boats, you may want to lay them on their sides as they can deform on racks whether mounted upside down or right side up. Doug's story about what happened to his Nordkapp reminded me of what happened to me once. My wife and I had our double Klepper up in Maine visiting friends. I assembled the kayak at the beginning of the visit and just cartopped it places each day to paddle. We got hit with a torrential rain one night. Can you image how much rain an open cockpit double Klepper (i.e.without its spraydeck) can gather in a heavy sustained downpour. When I woke up in the morning my mini-van was down on its springs at the back (the car was on a slight slope). I started an enormous pumping out standing on one of the wheels. Then the man of the house where we were staying came out. He is built like Burl Ives and just lifted the enormous weight of the water filled Klepper and lowered half to the ground spilling out a lot of the water load. By all rights some of the frame should have broken under this extraordinary load and his maneuvering of the boat but nothing got damaged. The car's springs stayed sagged for awhile and they were never the same again until I replaced them. 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 - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Mar 26 2001 - 14:51:55 PST
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