Thank you! That is the best explanation I have seen on how/why to tie a boat
down. I have seen some nightmares out on the road. --- Some of them were
mine - I have worked it out to more or less what you describe, but it took
many tries and stops along the road to fix loose ropes to work out what you
have explained well in a few short posts..

Ken

"riverman" wrote in message
...

"Michael Daly" wrote in message
...
On 11-Jan-2005, "riverman" wrote:

Be sure, for aerodynamics, that the
canoe is centered over the wheels, not over the hood.

I'm trying to figure out why this should be so.

Hi Mike. When the car is going straight with a direct headwind, it *is*
irrelevant. But having the boat far to the rear, as many people tend to do
instinctively when they center it over the cockpit of the car, gives you a
'sway' if you have a sidewind, or if you get a blast from a passing
tractor-trailer. If the canoe is centered, you only get a lean. It also
distributes the weight evenly on the car: otherwise you ride like you have
a
loaded rear end.


**This
line should be hauled tight enough to lift the stern of the canoe up
off
the
back roof rack about 6 inches.**

4) Go around back and tie a line from the back of the canoe down to the
center of the rear bumper. Haul down on this line. This should pull the
canoe back down onto the rear roof rack, and provide enough downward
force
to 'lock it down' onto the roof racks, and 'lock down' the roof racks
onto
the roof of your car.

The results of this arbitrary 6" lift will be highly dependent on the
amount
of stretch in the line, on the distance between the rack crossbars and
on
the type of canoe you're tying down. Stiff lines on a light canoe
mounted
on
closely spaced crossbars could break the hull while soft lines on a WW
canoe
with widely spaced bars may have little effect.

Yes, you are completely correct. 6" is an approximation of what I used
with
my boat, but your response shows that you perceive the situation clearly.
I
should have said 'enough tension to raise the stern of the canoe a small
amount, so that when you tie down the stern, it tightens the bow line
significantly."

--riverman

Mike

riverman wrote:

That's an interesting theory. I've always tried to put the bow
behind
the front of the car, that way the wind will actually tighten the
line
running from the bow to the front of the car. I see your point
though.
I'll have to think about this.


Its more than a theory. I've lashed a LOT of canoes onto roofs, and
this
method has proven to be bombproof. I've also noticed that the wind
has a
much smaller effect than braking; things lashed on roofs tend to work

themselves forward instead of backwards. But try some ideas out for
yourself
and let us know what you discover.

I didn't think about braking. That makes sense. I'm sold! I like the
fact this method doesn't rely solely on the racks to hold up. That
makes me nervous no matter how great the rack is.

By the way, slight change of plans. I ended up with a new Nissan
Sentra. I'm guessing they are the same as a Corolla, though.
Thanks!

Chuck.

in article , William R. Watt at
wrote on 1/11/05 7:09 PM:


If you drive around with the roof rack or anything else on the top of the
car you'll use more fuel.

Our van did not come with a roof rack, so we had one installed. When not in
use, everything comes off except for four small brackets. Not only does it
mean no wasted fuel, but you don't have the various noises resulting from
the wind resisitance.

On 11-Jan-2005, "riverman" wrote:

gives you a 'sway' if you have a sidewind

Gotcha.

It also
distributes the weight evenly on the car: otherwise you ride like you have a
loaded rear end.

Ditto - but in winter with many cars, that's a good thing. 'Course paddling
when there's snow and ice is only for us crazy folk.

Mike

On 11-Jan-2005, (William R. Watt) wrote:

I use only the straps to drive along residential streets over to the
river, 1 mile away, speed limit 35 mph, but tie the ends down when going
further and faster.

If you're driving in Ontario, then that's in violation of the highway code.
If a load extends beyond the vehicle, you have to tie down the ends.

Mike

"William R. Watt" wrote in message
...

When tying down the ends each is tied with a 12 foot length of 1//4 inch
rope. One end is tied to one end of the bumper (actually to the ring under
the bumper they used to tie the car down on the boat from Asia where it
was made) with a bowline knot, passed up and through the ring on the bow
of the boat, then down to the other bumper ring where it is snugged up
with a trucker's hitch.

I found that, unless I actually tied off at the bow ring of the boat, the
boat was free to slide back and forth along the rope. I tie off at the bow
ring with a bowline, run the line down to one end of the bumper, through
that tie down point, across to the other end, then back up to the bow.

--riverman

riverman wrote:

I found that, unless I actually tied off at the bow ring of the boat,
the
boat was free to slide back and forth along the rope. I tie off at
the bow
ring with a bowline, run the line down to one end of the bumper,
through
that tie down point, across to the other end, then back up to the
bow.

And then when you tie the stern probably the best way is with a
trucker's hitch. The coolest knot ever. Be careful though, you can
break stuff with a trucker's hitch by tightening it too much. It's like
using a pulley.

wrote in message
oups.com...

riverman wrote:

I found that, unless I actually tied off at the bow ring of the boat,
the
boat was free to slide back and forth along the rope. I tie off at
the bow
ring with a bowline, run the line down to one end of the bumper,
through
that tie down point, across to the other end, then back up to the
bow.

And then when you tie the stern probably the best way is with a
trucker's hitch. The coolest knot ever. Be careful though, you can
break stuff with a trucker's hitch by tightening it too much. It's like
using a pulley.


Correctamundo on all four points. :-)

--riverman

"No Spam" wrote in message
news:M5_Ed.9595$eb.6206@trndny01...
Thank you! That is the best explanation I have seen on how/why to tie a
boat
down. I have seen some nightmares out on the road. --- Some of them were
mine - I have worked it out to more or less what you describe, but it took
many tries and stops along the road to fix loose ropes to work out what
you
have explained well in a few short posts..

Just for reference, here are a few pics of how NOT to load a canoe on a car.
These folks all centered their boats over the cockpit of the car, or
centered them over the roofracks. You can see that it moves the boat way to
the rear, makes for a very unaerodynamic load, and leaves both endlines
running forward; perfect set-up for the canoe coming loose when the driver
puts on the brakes.

http://www.dawsonfamily.ca/John/notkids.shtml
http://www.ericandjoan.com/worldtrip.../auschp10.html
http://www.keithv.com/scans/canoe.jpg
http://www.mohawkcanoes.com/transport.htm (and this one is even on a site by
Mohawk Canoe, explaining how to tie on a canoe!!)
http://www.softopper.com/products_rack.html

Conversely, here is a pic of a canoe properly centered over the wheelbase of
the vehicle. These will ride more stably, not cause a sway if there is a
sidewind, and most importantly, the endlines are pulling equally in opposite
directions so the boat will not shift around.

http://www.sfu.ca/~dlpress/paddling/09_Canoe_Car.JPG

--riverman

I can speak from experience. It was only a three hour cruise... er make
that a three minute transport from shore to storage. I was tired and
only tied on with lines over the hull. At first stop, I was horrified
to see my kayak launch out over the hood of my van, like a bar of soap
coming out of your wet hands.

The Overflow luckily is used, plenty of scratches, and 40 ft of sliding
on asphalt did not hurt it any. The thought of causing a serious
accident did get my attention! However the worst was having to get out
and pickup the pieces and put it all back together, with all those
other folks pointing their finger, and gauking at me! They had a good
laugh!

Be sure and use the bow and stern lines, :-() Sheepish me, TnT