Tying Kayak To Roof Of Car

Unless you are carrying two kayaks or other gear side by side on the roof your kayak should be centered on your vehicle roof.

Tying kayak to roof of car.

Once your kayak is in place on the roof of your vehicle open all the doors of your car. Slide the kayak onto the roof rack with the cockpit facing upside down toward the roof of your car and center the cockpit of the kayak between the two bars of your car. The first step in tying your canoe or kayak down to your car is laying the straps over each bar. Tying your kayak for the roof rack.

Place the end with the buckle at the side of your kayak and slide the non buckle end underneath your crossbar making sure the strap is not twisted. Step 2 wrap one cam strap. Walk around and grab the ends. Put both ends of the strap over your kayak to the other side of your car.

Just be extra careful when backing up. If you re shorter and or have a tall vehicle keep a small stepladder in the back of your car that you can use to make reaching the straps a whole lot easier. Load the kayak assuming your roof rack and kayak carrier are already installed lift your kayak onto your vehicle roof. Thread each strap underneath and around each bar and let the kayak straps lay flat against your vehicle.

The front of the kayak should be facing forward. Of course you will want to make sure the buckles on the end of the straps don t scratch your car door. Run 2 boat straps over the top of the kayak and them under the roof rack bars then bring the straps to the other side of the kayak and loop them under the roof rack bars on that side. If you have a short cab and you must you can lay you kayak flat in the bed using a tailgate extender to support the stern.

Using fancy knots and wrapping straps every which way may look cool but keeping things simple is often the fastest and most secure way to go. Tie the straps down with cam buckles to secure the kayak. To tie down a kayak place it right side up on your roof rack and center it. Tie on to a rack in two places then secure the bow and or stern via the hood system see long boat short car above and securing the stern with a line tied to d rings in the bed.

Now you can thread the non buckle end through the buckle and tighten it against your kayak. Inflatable roof racks require a slightly different tie down procedure than hard and soft racks as they do not have fastening points to loop the straps through. Pick up your kayak onto the roof rack on your car so it is right side upwards. Take the buckle of your cam strap and pass this over the top of your boat.