Canoe on the roof rack

[davavd]

I sometimes carry a canoe on the roof rack and have never found a good way to secure the line from the forward end of the boat. The best I have come up with so far is a length of line tied underneath the front of the car at each corner loose enough so that the middle of the line reaches up above the grille. The line from the bow of the canoe then ties to this line. This is a pain to install and looks every bit the jury rig that it is. Has anybody come up with something better?

[brian_bp]

I don't know that it is better, but I run a line in a vee from one front tie-down point (under the bumper), through the bow fitting (tied there to keep the bow from shifting side-to-side along the line), and down to the other tie-down point. This runs the line against the the face of the bumper cover, so I pad it there with short lengths of foam pipe insulation.

Some people install a small loop under one fender mounting screw on each side, so the loops can be left out of sight under the hood when not carrying the canoe, and pulled up through the gaps between hood and fender for use. The vee-line then runs between the loops and the bow, without rubbing against any part of the van's body. I have not tried this.

With my substantial aluminum canoe, I'm not convinced that a bow line is needed at all, but it might be a good idea at high speed.

[morcguy]

Use these for your front end tie down! Referenced in the prior post.

https://redrockstore.com/Catalog/ind...on=show_detail