Cross Bars, Boats and Cipherin'

[Deuce]

Say a guy wanted to put two canoes, one just under 36 inches and one just under 32 inches AND a rec boat (Dagger Zydeco in this case) on his 78 inch cross bars. Could he do it? If so, how? J racks for the yak perhaps?

[sig]

I believe my bars are 78". I have no clue about the widths of our canoes but we can easily put two canoes on the rack and a kayak in the middle (or another canoe on its side).

Canoes can be loaded on their side but I don't like to do that. Especially to my wife's boat. Not anymore. No sir :)

[Roger]

Take 36' boat and secure in normal position using belly tie-downs and secured at stern and bow on one side of the rack. Load next canoe on its side next to first canoe. Follow with Zydeco. Secure with belly straps that include the first canoe. Add bow and stern tie-downs to last two boats loaded.

[Deuce]

Thanks gentlemen. Roger, which way should the second canoe face ideally? Yak on its side too, or flat?

[Roger]

Probably put the hull out on the second canoe and cockpit in on the Zydeco. Curve of the gunnels (gunwales) will bend around the other boat's profile allowing for less room. Cockpit of kayak against the hull of the canoe takes away a wind catcher.

[Tim Eubanks]

Thanks gentlemen. Roger, which way should the second canoe face ideally? Yak on its side too, or flat?

Which way should boats face? bow or stern pointing into wind? Should you start loading on driver side or passenger?

[okieboater]

Old timers rule of thumb is:

Best Karma is boats with bow into the wind,
however
this can be balanced out if boats with sterns pointed into the wind are balanced out with boats with bow pointed into the wind.

Having said that, depending on kayak design I have carried kayaks with sterns pointed into the wind and cockpit down to the rack a bunch. Seems to help gas mileage altho I cannot scientifically prove this.

Bottom line is, you load and tie the boats down, and it is your choice!

Having had boats slide off racks and fly off as well, I am a big believer in bow and stern lines regardless of boat orientation. Especially important if transporting multiple boats or traveling at high speed on the Interstate system!

[Roger]

Thanks gentlemen. Roger, which way should the second canoe face ideally? Yak on its side too, or flat?

Which way should boats face? bow or stern pointing into wind? Should you start loading on driver side or passenger?

[Tim Eubanks]

Old timers rule of thumb is:

Best Karma is boats with bow into the wind,
however
this can be balanced out if boats with sterns pointed into the wind are balanced out with boats with bow pointed into the wind.

Having said that, depending on kayak design I have carried kayaks with sterns pointed into the wind and cockpit down to the rack a bunch. Seems to help gas mileage altho I cannot scientifically prove this.

Bottom line is, you load and tie the boats down, and it is your choice!

Having had boats slide off racks and fly off as well, I am a big believer in bow and stern lines regardless of boat orientation. Especially important if transporting multiple boats or traveling at high speed on the Interstate system!

I must admit to having 2 boats come off shuttle vehicle, both on almost same section of I30 Luckily no damage aside from my ego. Enduring skepticism in boat-tying-on skills by on-lookers too.
Now make sure to tie all boats to rack/truck separately.
How you put boats on vehicle can be used to assess psychological state, too.

[okieboater]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for 'fessing up! Wonder how many other untold stories are out there?

I thought it was just me who in the heat of doing shuttles, sometimes failed to follow proper procedures for tie down then drove too fast on the interstate. I appreciate the support.

Then there was the time coming back from an all day Cossatot Adventure, we forgot to tie in Jon Harrisons Prijon kayak. Might have helped that we had two sets of yakima kayak cradles on the rack.

One of those after dark fast dash runs back to Tulsa. At home, we were really surprised to find his Prijon still in the cradles, I don't think it had moved at all.

[Ouachitoff]

Had my burn almost come off my car on the I430 bridge over the Arkansas in some nasty crosswind a month or so ago... I saw the bow slide right and puckered bigtime. I've since started laying a thin strip of rubber on my bars and that's made the difference.

[Deuce]

I have a set of gunwale brackets on my bars for the Explorer. They're there to prevent yaw and protect the beautiful ash gunwales that are now past due for re-oiling. However, even without them I've never had too much trouble with yaw provided I've used a bow rope tied with a trucker's hitch. I can easily get the Explorer and Dave's old Sunburst on the bars, and it's rare that I need both of them and Little Deuce's boat at once, but it'll be nice to know when I do I don't have to drag out a trailer. Thus far I've been able to avoid escaping boat mishaps, but I'm sure my time will come.

[Roger]

Confession: Last August when Richland was running, I loaded and tied off my boat with the "help" of Cowper and Cole after the trip since I was going to run shuttle for their second run. I headed up to the Barton's cabin to leave my rig there since I was staying the night in the bunkhouse. Cole followed me as his truck was the shuttle vehicle.

As we crossed the field after the creek bridge, I hear some unwelcome noise only to look in the rearview mirror and see my boat sliding off. No damage to the boat. Minor damage to the "tail" that particular model has on its rear hatch.

Tossed boat into Cole's truck and went to cabin. Completed shuttle. Glad we were in the field. Never could figure why the back strap wasn't secure!!! Learned another lesson even at my age.

[Deuce]

Sheesh. They say confession is good for the soul. I say nuts. Anywho, thanks for the advice and the laughs.

[Tim Eubanks]

Sheesh. They say confession is good for the soul. I say nuts. Anywho, thanks for the advice and the laughs.

So....the rec kayak on my truck was not even mine and had been borrowed by a friend for the day. It came off on the east side of the bridge over the saline on I30. got bounced by at least one car but managed to get to the inside lane and came to rest. Of course traffic slowed so I could cross and retrieve the boat. NOT. I waited for a gap and scurried across to drag it to the outside shoulder. All the while my co-pilot was waving like a mad woman (she was) to alert cars.
Lesson: make sure the loop on the boat that is used to attach to the rack is sturdy.