Best way to transport canoes?

[FlyDrawer]

Hi, all.

I am the proud owner of a 14-foot aluminum bass boat (Montgomery Wards, ca. 1970) and a full-sized station wagon (Chevrolet Caprice Classic, 1996?350 c.i.d. engine, frame construction, RWD, last of the road-going dinosaurs) and would like to one day soon own one or more canoes.

The boat is light enough for car-topping...my dad used to carry it on canoe racks on his work van.

My wife uses the car as a more-or-less daily driver, and would prefer not to have a dedicated set of canoe racks bolted to her ride.

In light of these facts, I would like to find a way to tote the boat or canoe(s) with some sort of rack or block system that doesn?t stay on the car when it?s not in use. I have considered getting a receiver hitch mounted on the station wagon, then pulling the vessels on a modified light trailer of some sort.

The upside of the trailer is that it could double as boat storage when not in use. The downside is that it will cost to buy or build, and must be registered and tagged.

Have any of the good folks here faced this problem, and if so, how have you solved it?

Thanks,

FlyDrawer

"Some people fish with flies, some people tie them...some people draw them."

[Jed]

I have four foam blocks that fit over the gunnels. The canoe rests on the blocks, the blocks on the roof. I use a tie down around the middle of the canoe and have a "V" on each end. It takes 5 seconds to slip on the foam blocks and they work great.

jed

I use something simple and cheap. It is something like this:
[url=http://www.prolineracks.com/canoe-foam-blocks.html:6d5ff]http://www.prolineracks.com/canoe-foam-blocks.html[/url:6d5ff]

[gadabout]

I keep a Thule rack on my SUV. Just the plain load bars, not the canoe carrier or any other special accessories. I just slide the canoe onto the bars (upside down) from the rear of the vehicle and tie it down with ropes. I place a piece of carpeting on the rear of the vehicle so that it doesn't get damaged, since I have to temporarily rest the canoe on this before I can pick up the back end and slide it. I've been using this system for probably 20 years. Works great for me.

Of course your success with this technique might depend on what you're canoe gunwhales are made. If you're canoe is aluminum it may mess up the roof rack too much when you slide it. My canoe is an Old Town Discovery. The gunwhales are plastic (vinyl?) and it works fine for me.

[Micropteris]

I second the foam blocks with a couple good rachet straps that connect the boat to the under frame of the car.

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Who has time for stress when there are fish to catch.
Nick

[Adam-s]

How far do you intend to haul the canoe? Do you care if the canoe or car get scratched, dented, or damaged? If short trips and you don't care about your load shifting, foam blocks will work. But a cross wind will send your canoe all over the place.

I've hauled canoes tens of thousands of miles on a Yakima roof rack without any problems.

Adams

[Diane]

I was excited to see this thread..finally something I know a lot about! And then I read the part about not wanting the rack on the car when the rack isn't in use.

So I've got nothing to contribute. I think the best racks are Yakima and Thule and I think they look cool and I've never had them do any damage to my vehicles.

That said, I've got an even cooler set-up now. You can see it at the Canoes album at [url=http://dmaluso.photosite.com:59504]http://dmaluso.photosite.com[/url:59504]

[billknepp]

Diane,

I noticed that in your posts of flies...Very kewl rig you have there !!

Gotta find a system for my Kia Rio...could always use the wife's van...But me thinks she'll get mighty testy of this after a weekend or two...was going to just toss a blanket over the roof and strap'er down.....

But... a recent incident involving our 5 year old boy...and a stone has my car going for pretty much a complete paint job....so I think I'll not be so hasty after this...I got pretty bent outta shape over the whole thing...Found out just how much I do care of my cars Finnish.....

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"I've often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before" A.K.Best

Everyone wants to excel in this sport but at the same time we let traditionalists place restrictions on our tactics, methods, and ideas. I always assumed that fly fishing was a sport that allowed imagination, creation, adaptation, investigation, dedication, education, revelation? : Fox Statler, On Spinners (Not the dainty Dry Fly kind) "Spinner'd Minner Fly"

"Wish ya great fishing"

Bill

[Jim Hatch]

Hi Diane,

I enjoyed your photo trip to Sep 2006.
I'm just curious how you accomplished it.
Was it just the pictures or did you have the
whole experience in advance?*G* What a
concept! Warm regards, Jim

[fcch]

Jim, ... LoL !! I noticed that too and just figured that Diane is so ahead of her time, ... that well, ... she got through most of '06 before the rest of us

Back to topic, ... Depending on the distances you want to haul around a canoe, ... a "dedicated" set of bars, solidly attached to the car is really the safest way to go.

A canoe coming off a car at 60 mph is a dangerous thing.

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Christopher Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
[url=http://flyanglersonline.com/travel/quebec06fishin/:e604e]2006 FishIn Ste-Marguerite River[/url:e604e]
[url=http://pages.videotron.com/fcch/:e604e]Fishing the Ste-Marguerite[/url:e604e]