[Paddlewise] Travel tips: USA to CA & back

Hi all:

Would anyone who has recent experience transporting a personally-owned kayak
by car across the U.S./Canadian border care to offer some advice or caveats
to the uninitiated?

I will be driving with my family from New York City to Toronto next weekend,
planning to paddle in the Finger Lakes region and on Lake Ontario (or some
other recommended spot, if you care to suggest).  Since we'll have more than
the minimum required luggage to start off with, I could certainly make
efficient use of the trunk by car-topping my folding kayak.

Would a pass through Canadian customs be relatively simple for a car with a
kayak, wrapped in its cover, on the rooftop, especially if it's a
Feathercraft?  Or would world events and the current climate complicate my
lowly objectives?  After all, I just prompted a NYC harbor police siren and
stern admonition yesterday by paddling too close to a tunnel ventilator near
Governors Island, as if the Kahuna could hold something more lethal than my
lunch, a change of clothes, its carrying cart and backpack.

Would it be better to keep the kayak in its bag, and bury it in the trunk,
under piles of duffel bags and soiled cleaning rags, hoping that the
officials couldn't care less?

Will the Canadian officials be laid back but the U.S. officials more
unforgiving, upon my return?

Will I need to present an original receipt to show proof of purchase and
ownership?

Should I just forget the idea of kayaking altogether, or perhaps rent one,
both in Toronto and the Finger Lakes?

Thanks for your help.

Émile Zen
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