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#1
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saddles only for Kayak?
I'm looking into kayak transporting for the first time and realize how
important it is to transport a kayak safely. My question is if use a Yakima rack and purchase their saddles is that all I have to use to tie down a Kayak successfully? I'm not sure if my Dodge Caravan will allow the front and back to be tied to the van. Thanks Chris |
#2
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saddles only for Kayak?
I also add an "Oh My God!" strap whenever I transport my kayak. This is a strap
that runs over the top of the kayak and in through the doors; a big loop. No matter what happens to all of my other ties and straps, I will still have time to slow my car and save my boat. Tom, Tucson |
#3
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saddles only for Kayak?
In addition to racks I rigged up a stainless wire that holds kayak bow
via nylon loop and hooks in two places underneath the hood. The advantage of wire toward webbing or poly. rope is that it does not vibrate on speed. |
#4
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saddles only for Kayak?
Hi Chris,
If you can get a good spread between the bars, then the boat is usually ok just being tied down at the saddles. However you are putting faith in the rack. I know of someone with either a Yakima or Thule (I think it was Thule, but it was a nice rack nonetheless) who had the whole thing (kayaks and all) blow off the top of his car while driving down the highway. In that case bow and stern lines would have held things in place until he could pull over and fix the rack. If you have a short span between bars, then you will want the end lines to keep your hull from tweaking side to side. My rule is if the saddles are at the bulkheads or further out to the ends, then I don't worry about extra lines. If I can't get as wide as the bulkheads, then I tie it down for all it's worth. I also cross my fingers and hope the rack stays on (12 years and no problems yet). - Eric P.S. I haul tons of different boats, and half the time I use cheap foam cradles instead of the Yakima cradles. They form to the hull better, though with hard chined boats the boats sit on their sides instead of upright. With Yakima saddles I can get hard chined boats to stay upright. Tie to the rack not to the saddles. Your boat won't bounce around that way. "Chris" wrote in message ... I'm looking into kayak transporting for the first time and realize how important it is to transport a kayak safely. My question is if use a Yakima rack and purchase their saddles is that all I have to use to tie down a Kayak successfully? I'm not sure if my Dodge Caravan will allow the front and back to be tied to the van. Thanks Chris |
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