Car-topping Small Boats
Please don't ask me how I know about this
by Leslie Strom
Illustrations by Laurie Cunningham
exerpts from The Sculler At Ease by Frank Cunningham & Leslie Strom
It's been my observation that among small boat boaters, rowers know bupkus about cartopping a craft, and paddlers, who spend a lot more time with their boats in transit, can be downright Spartan about the whole subject, with a spare and elegant technique that's a marvel to behold. I learned to cartop a small boat from Tom Bush, who used to sell sculling boats and comes from a long line of sailing folk. He was most insistent that I learn this skill, and I found out why: I was then the only other person in our rowing club who knew how to secure a shell to a car-top without resorting to bad macrame and random, hopeful knotting.
Sometimes, if you're not going
far or very fast, you can pop the boat on and just tie it to
the rack. I've seen this done to get a boat down the street and
no further. For every other instance, there is a risk of sidewinds,
the boat flying into the windshield of the hapless car behind
you (killing all passengers), the rack peeling off, losing the
boat on a back road, getting stress fractures on your boat that
render it unseaworthy, or worse. You need to secure it to the
rack in two places, then tie it down fore and aft to your car
bumpers. This latter skill, which starts with the tying of a
trucker's hitch, is what separates the experts from the idiots,
and what I intend to impart to you today.
The first couple times I car-topped my new used kayak, I made my passengers get out numerous times to check that it was holding. It was understandable paranoia to not want to lose a new boat before I'd had a chance to run it up on some big rocks myself. The rack, built by a mechanic friend, is bullet-proof, and mounted on a sturdy camper. The boat was tied within an inch of its life. McBee, the wag, would leap out of the car and shove the boat and rack assembly so hard the whole truck rocked. "I think it's okay!," he shouted. "Everything looks good!" (rock, rock, rock.) "All's well!" (shove, shove, shove.) "You might need new shocks, though!" (rock, rock, rock.) Anyway, it's okay to be overly cautious.
STUFF YOU'LL NEED TO CAR-TOP
A car. You'd be amazed at the lengths people will go to pile on boats (see sidebar). Chances are if you have a small car and you're determined, you'll find a way.
A roof-top rack, if you're going to do this often. Specialty places and factory-installed racks are a place to start. Yakima and Thule make systems, and there are some budget and homemade options. The thing to keep in mind with all of them is that a rack is as reliable as its components: the bolts that hold it to the roof, the material it's made of, the roof it's attached to. If any of these fail, there (possibly) goes your boat. Jiggle them, whack them, shove them hard, make sure they're on there GOOD. Wind load on a canoe or kayak can be brutal.
Foam cradles ($15) or actual boat carrier cradles ($100) for your roof rack system (another $150). Foam cradles can be used to cartop directly to the roof of your car. Make sure the car has enough real estate to support the boat. I use foam cradles on my homemade rack.
Get a sturdy box to keep your gear in your car or truck, so all you have to do is grab it and go. I keep my tie-down gear, PFD, paddle float, pump, spray skirt, and the regular emergency stuff in a lidded storage box in back of my truck's camper.
Good rope for bow and stern tie-downs - estimate the length from bumper to boat to bumper plus length for loops and a truckers hitch. If you start with one 50 foot length, this will probably take care of both ends. Extra leftover rope is always handy.
Two webbing straps with metal toggles ($20) I got 12 foot ones, and they need trimming for the kayak. They're just right for a tubby canoe.
Red flagging for end of boat - a bandanna works well, though I've used socks and plastic flagging. Required by law.
Duct tape - seals rope ends, keeps excess strapping from flying around, good for many things.
A lighter and a good knife... you'll want to seal the cut rope ends and the strapping after you trim them to length. A car lighter and a fingernail clipper, by the way, don't do the job at all. Please don't ask me how I know about his.
NAUTICAL SKILLS THAT ARE HANDY
Know how to tie a truckers hitch, half hitch, and bowline.
Know how to coil and bundle rope.
CAR-TOPPING
Now that you have your gear together, it's time to put the boat on the car with an economy of rope and macrame. (Check your state's department of motor vehicles for length limitations if you're hauling long rowing boats..) See the sidebar for a thrifty invention you can utilize yourself for loading a heavy boat on a high camper.
On
my own truck, I run the strap over the boat, under the horizontal
bar, back over the boat, under the other horizontal bar, and
secure it.
If you tie your boat directly to the car top, be sure to pad the roof with foam or towelling. If it is practical, tie through the interior structure of the boat rather than around the hull.
You may be travelling on the freeway or in windy areas, or going a long way, or perhaps be carrying more than one boat. You will want to arrest sliding and bouncing by stabilizing the ends of the boat. This can be done very quickly with nylon rope and a bit of padding. To do this:
1: Place a pad on top of your car. Unrig your boat and put it upside down on top of your car, centering the weight of the boat. With a kayak with hatches, place the bulkheads over the rack supports where it's strongest.
2: Tie a loop on one end of a rope about 20 feet long. Slide it securely over the right side of the front bumper. Throw the loose end of the rope over the boat or through the painter fitting, and wrap it once around the existing rope. Don't knot anything. The bracing must be able to slide and self-adjust in order to work as a system. If the boat is particularly fragile, put a bit of padding between the rope and the boat's skin.
3: To make a Trucker's Hitch, tie a small leverage loop in the rope about two feet above the left front bumper.
4: Run the loose end of the rope around the left side of the bumper so it is snug but not tight, and thread it back through the leverage loop.
5: Pull the rope downward, using the loop as a pulley. Secure the rope loosely with a half hitch for now.
6: Do steps 25 to the rear bumper, and tighten, finishing with several half hitches.
7: Go to the front bumper and re-tighten the fastening. Neither end of the boat should move in any direction, but don't overdo it so that the rope stresses the boat with normal car vibrations.
8: Secure your red flagging on the end of the boat. If your boat has a moveable rudder, tie it down. If you put a cockpit cover on a kayak, do give the boat a chance to air out later.
SECURITY - KEEPING YOUR BOAT FROM THIEVES
It helps to have a rather disgraceful boat that no one wants to steal, but not everyone can be so lucky. With canoes on homemade racks, link chain and a padlock can be run through the thwart and onto the car bumper, though it's a bad idea to drive this way. Yakima and Thule make locking systems for people who like to keep their boats on their cars ready to go in the warmer months.
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