You need a 4 ft shorter canoe. I passed a rig last year that had 3 solo
canoes lashed straight up on the back of the camper. The owner had bolted a
bar to the top rear of the camper and placed pulleys on it. It looked like
he clipped a rope to the front of each boat and pulled them up. He had one
of those big rigs with the ladder up the back and the cargo pad on the roof.
looked like he could climb up, walk across the top and secure the bows and
then come down and complete the strapping. Really unique. If you stay with
your current boat it looks like you are stuck with the set-up you mentioned
or carting the whole boat up on the roof. The other thing that ran through
my mind was if you could replace a front or rear window with a cargo door.
Then you open the door and slide the boat inside down the center isle of the
camper. Only you know if this would be workable on your unit. I did know an
older gentleman that carried his full size Coleman canoe on the side of his
motorhome. Put him very near the max width on many roads (especially the way
he drove). But it did make loading very easy. He made a custom rack for the
side that was at a very comfortable height to just walk up and hang the boat
on the side.

"Richard Ferguson" wrote in message
...
I am in the process of changing from one kind of RV to another, and that
means that I need to figure out a new way to haul my 16 foot canoe. The
5th wheel that I am buying occupies most of the bed of the truck. The
best solution that I can figure out is to put the canoe over the cab of
the truck, hanging out past the front bumper.

Looking around on the web, it seems that the standard solution would be
to use a Canoe support, like a tall "T" Shape, that plugs into a 2 inch
trailer hich receiver. That would require me to buy the following: 1.
Front hitch for my truck. 2. "T" canoe support for hitch. 3. Canoe
rack for cab of truck. It all seems very complicated and expensive.

Alternatively, I could weld up my own rack that attaches to the front
bumper or tow hooks, and then either use a conventional roof rack for
the cab, or weld up a special rack for the front of the truck bed.

Anybody have any ideas or other options?

Richard