Lately I have been thinking about using those special foam blocks for carrying my canoe on my car. But the information I found about it, has a tendency to sound negative about the use of it? I wonder if there are people here on PW that have had really negative experiences with this kind of transport. I have used them 2 times now, and I find it very slow to put on compared to roof racks, but once everything is set, I do not see any problems? Perhaps there is a chance of damage on the car roof on the long run, perhaps? Dirk Barends *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Dirk Barends wrote: > > Lately I have been thinking about using those special foam blocks for > carrying my canoe on my car. I used them when I got my first canoe, but had to get racks when we added the next boat to the fleet. They worked OK, except that the ropes end up stretching out very wide, to the edges of the roof, so that side-to-side stability isn't very good with high winds/speeds, even with triangulated bow and stern ropes. Because of this, yes, there will be some roof scuffing by the pads over time. -- Steve Cramer Athens, GA *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Dirk Barends wrote: > > Lately I have been thinking about using those special foam blocks for > carrying my canoe on my car. I used them with my canoe with bow and stern lines without to many problems. BUT, I also used at least one strap that went over the canoe and and under/over the roof of the truck if that makes sense. Just make sure your doors are open when you strap the boat. 8-) A couple of problems with the strap. - Makes the doors hard to close. - The strap and vibrate and make noise. Twisting the strap seems to help prevent this. - PITA to use. I had to make a hard emergency stop once from highway speeds and everything stayed on the truck. The canoe moved a bit but the stern lines kept the boat on the truck. Not Fun. 8-( I never noticed problems with the foam messing up the paint on the truck but I did not use the foam blocks for long.... Hope this helps.... Dan McCarty *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
I used to do this several times a few years ago with my canoe polo boat. BUT without foam block! Just put some smooth stuff on the roof, place the Revenge Nitro on it, 2 straps over the boat and through the car, ready. OK, was only for short ways. and because of the strap I had to hold my head little bit sideways. :-)) Last year in Great Britain the only chance to transport my 50Kg heavy and 6,85metre long Valley Aleut Sea II, was on the really small roof of a phllipinian "Jeep". One "normal" roof rack at the front and a hard top roof behind! We put some old sofa cushions on the hard top and the Aleut on them. Was quite difficult to tie down the boat in a safe way, especially on these awful english roads and the hard car suspensions. We had to correct the straps several times. The hard top gets a big dent.Wasnīt funny at all, but worked and thatīs the point. I would do it again if there is no other choice. This system isnīt ideal, but so far it works... bye JOchen *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
At 08:42 AM 4/29/2002 +0100, you wrote: >Lately I have been thinking about using those special foam blocks for >carrying my canoe on my car. But the information I found about it, >has a tendency to sound negative about the use of it? >I wonder if there are people here on PW that have had really >negative experiences with this kind of transport. >I have used them 2 times now, and I find it very slow to put on >compared to roof racks, but once everything is set, I do not see any problems? >Perhaps there is a chance of damage on the car roof on the long run, perhaps? Long long ago, we cartopped a canoe on a friends car using those foam blocks. We drove about 4 hours at 60+ mph. I noticed the bow was slowly getting closer to the hood of the car. The way we had set it up, 2 bow lines, a belly strap and a single stern rope was not enough. The bow had pulled down enough to release pressure on the 2 rear pads. The 2 rear pads had slid all the way down the gunwales of the canoe to the back deckplate. I think the roof may have ended up being dented from the weight of the canoe balancing on the front 2 pads. If you do decide to use the foam blocks for a canoe use 4 tiedown ropes, 1 to each corner of the car, all 4 ropes tied quite taut. Kirk *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Thanks Kirk, fortunately I have those roof rails on my car, from where I can tie two straps around the canoe to make it really stay in place, and I use bow and stern lines. So far this setup looks surprisingly well, even better than with roof racks, because the canoe sits lower and it saves weight on the car. Also the canoe hardly moves sideways anymore because it is firmly held in place between these roof rails with two of these blocks. The distance between the blocks is also considerable bigger than the distance between the racks. The only negative point I have found (so far) is that it takes more time because of the carefully cleaning of the roof and the precise adjustments that have to be made to set things really the way it should (or I want it :-). For short daytrips I didn't like this. But for trips involving long days of driving to the place you are going to paddle for a longer time, I think the advantages can outweigh this minor disadvantage. I only don't want to find out through experience that it can damage my car because of abrasion of the blocks or something like that. Or maybe much heat from sunlight can mean damage to the blocks? Dirk Barends >>Lately I have been thinking about using those special foam blocks for >>carrying my canoe on my car. But the information I found about it, >>has a tendency to sound negative about the use of it? >>I wonder if there are people here on PW that have had really >>negative experiences with this kind of transport. >>I have used them 2 times now, and I find it very slow to put on >>compared to roof racks, but once everything is set, I do not see any problems? >>Perhaps there is a chance of damage on the car roof on the long run, perhaps? > >Long long ago, we cartopped a canoe on a friends car using those foam blocks. > >We drove about 4 hours at 60+ mph. I noticed the bow was slowly getting closer >to the hood of the car. The way we had set it up, 2 bow lines, a belly >strap and a single stern rope was not enough. The bow had pulled down >enough to release >pressure on the 2 rear pads. The 2 rear pads had slid all the way down the >gunwales of the canoe to the back deckplate. I think the roof may have >ended up >being dented from the weight of the canoe balancing on the front 2 pads. > >If you do decide to use the foam blocks for a canoe use 4 tiedown ropes, 1 >to each corner of the car, all 4 ropes tied quite taut. > >Kirk *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
Because of some strange computer problems I didn't receive PW digests anymore since I asked my question about foam blocks. (Dangerous question? :-) The problem seems to be solved now, I hope... So I would also like to thank Dan McCarty and Steve Cramer for their answers. Dirk Barends *************************************************************************** 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/ ***************************************************************************
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