Tying A Canoe To A Roof Rack

If your vehicle has a roof rack you have one of the best situations for tying down a canoe.

Tying a canoe to a roof rack.

Some pads will have velcro closures while others will have elastic cords. Load your kayak onto your roof rack with your padding in place on your crossbars or kayak carriers carefully lift your kayak and place it on top of the roof rack. If you are tying the kayak directly to the crossbars of the roof rack place the boat upside down on the rack. Leave the end of the strap with the cam buckle attached hanging on the other side of the car.

If you re loading the boat onto crossbars you might want to keep your kayak the right way up. The easiest way is with the help of a friend. Mount the foam pads onto your canoe mount the canoe onto your crossbars crossbar pads wrap around your crossbars and allow you to safely transport gear on your roof rack without a standard carrier. It also reduces the risk of damaging your vehicle.

A roof rack is ideal as it provides the most secure tie down. To install wrap the pads around your crossbars and secure in place. If you don t have a roof rack there are still other options out there for you. How to tie down a canoe to a roof rack.

Position your canoe so that the yoke or middle thwart is equi distant between the contact points with the car. Placing a plastic boat hull side down can cause indentations and while they can be removed they will affect your boat s ability to track straight. Tie down a kayak. Using cam straps is the simplest and fastest way to secure the boat.

You should be looping the bare end of the strap under the roof rack bar. Tie your canoe across the centre where it is supported by the rack or foam blocks. You ll pick the boat up by each end and place it on the rack. In this video i demonstrate how to tie a canoe to a vehicle under two very different scenarios.

If you can depress the roof with your hand don t put the foam block there. If you re solo there are a couple of options depending on your rack system.