This article is inspired by the things I have seen after many years of canoeing, rafting, c-1ing and kayaking whitewater. Boats can fly off roofs or trailers when folks do not use proper cam straps, ropes or knots. Personally, I have had some boats fly off, too, and have been lucky enough that no one was hurt and the boats survived.
That in mind, following are a few car-topping tips I’ve learned from throughout the years:
1. Don’t forget to tie down your boat. When I get back to my car, I put the boat up and find my straps or rope and tie the boat down. Don’t get distracted with talking or changing out of your boating gear. Driving off and having your boat fly off your car is dangerous and causes damage to your boat.
2. Do not use worn cam straps that have frays in them. Each time that cam buckle bites on a 1-inch-wide cam strap there is some wear and tear. Most straps last for quite a few years, depending on how much you boat and where they are in the rotation. When they fray, cut them below the fray and melt the ends so they still enter the strap buckle easily. They turn into extender straps on their way out. If a cam strap breaks while on your car, the boat could kill folks so take it seriously. Example of a fatality from this https://www.kjan.com/index.php/2021/09/northeast-iowa-man-dies-when-hes-hit-by-a-flying-kayak-sunday-morning/
3. Never use cam straps while knots are in them. This causes stress in unintended ways on your strap and can lead to a failure of the strap.
4. With your rope or strap, always hit one or preferably two safety points on the boat. This keeps a boat from shifting front and back on the rack or trailer.
5. Know Your Knots. I love to use the half hitch or daisy chains with the excess rope or strap length to keep failure of cams or knots from happening. “If you can’t tie a knot, tie a lot”. Two half hitches work well with ropes I have found, especially backing up a truckers hitch knot. Half Hitch animated knot instruction below:
https://www.animatedknots.com/half-hitch-knot
Trucker’s hitch instructions below:
https://www.101knots.com/truckers-hitch.html
6. Check the screws holding up kayak cross bars and the rack on to the roof of your vehicle. These both have a tendency to loosen up over time.
7. Beware of over tightening the boats and hurting the shape of the hull of kayaks or canoes on racks. Folks like the truckers hitch knot but don’t put excessive pressure on the boat or you might end up with a permanent dent. Same goes for over-tightening a cam strap. Almost always putting a kayak on its side is better for the boat, putting them flat on the bottom can compromise the boat hull’s shape and integrity.
8. Make sure every boat has been tied to a safety point or security bar/ grab loop. Sometimes this means breaking out an extra strap or rope to make sure things are solid. If you tie two straps and load two boats but fail to tie down the inner boat that is sandwiched between the upright kayak bar and the outside kayak, there is nothing holding it from flying off if the boats are not super taught, with pressure. Be sure they are not going anywhere.
9. Use a bow and stern line for canoes or sea kayaks. When the boats are longer than five feet past each end of your rack, this is necessary to keep the boat in place. It is best to tie downwards with these canoe painters or stern and bow lines. Tie to the hitch or bumper in the back and tow cleats on your truck.