This is my first time posting but have been around reading for some time now. I'm fairly new to canoeing other than local lakes. My family will be taking a vacation soon and we would like to take our canoe with us (Mad River Passage/Adventure 14). We have a Honda CR-V with roof rack that has worked fine for local travel. My concern is at highway speeds if my tie down system is sufficient. I use two belly ropes with trucker's hitches tied to the rack. I also use two ropes tied to the bow carry handle (open for better ideas here for sure) and one to the stern. My biggest concern is the lift at those speeds on the factory roof rack and carry handles.
Any thoughts?
Thank you.

I would NOT rely on the factory roof rack at all for the sole purpose of securing the canoe. You can certainly tie it to the roof rack as a means to keep it from sliding sideways and such, but if it were me, and what I do, is to throw a strap or two over the canoe and INTO the vehicle. Either thru a window or sliding door like our mini van has. Secured to that way, you don't have to worry about lift. Also, tie the bow off and the stern.

When I travel, I have 2 ratchet straps. One does thru the tops of the doors on the drivers/pass sides, over the top of the canoe. The ratchet itself is on the inside of the vehicle. I do the same thing further back on the rear windows. I secure the bow and the stern to secure anchor points on the bottom of the vehicle.

Also, if you use ratchet straps, make sure you put at least 1 twist in the flat webbing before securing it, otherwise you will have that vibration from the wind.

I have a yakima bar system that connects to the factory rack on my vehicle. I use ratchet straps to secure the canoes to the yakima bars and rope (with trucker's hitches) to tie the bow and stern the the front and back of the car.
I've never had a problem.

quote MeatHunter: "I would NOT rely on the factory roof rack at all for the sole purpose of securing the canoe. You can certainly tie it to the roof rack as a means to keep it from sliding sideways and such, but if it were me, and what I do, is to throw a strap or two over the canoe and INTO the vehicle. Either thru a window or sliding door like our mini van has. Secured to that way, you don't have to worry about lift. Also, tie the bow off and the stern.


When I travel, I have 2 ratchet straps. One does thru the tops of the doors on the drivers/pass sides, over the top of the canoe. The ratchet itself is on the inside of the vehicle. I do the same thing further back on the rear windows. I secure the bow and the stern to secure anchor points on the bottom of the vehicle.


Also, if you use ratchet straps, make sure you put at least 1 twist in the flat webbing before securing it, otherwise you will have that vibration from the wind. "

Do you do anything to prevent damage to your minivans rubber water proofing around the doors/windows? Ive got a new minivan and have contemplated this but I would hate to damage the inside of the van.

I too wondered about the door seals.
We leave Sunday so i'm not much interested in trying to buy a rack.
if we can't do it safely we'll leave the canoe behind, as much as I hate that idea.:)

I was concerned about this same issue.
My 2012 Ford Escape has a factory rack with crossbars that are rated to 100 lbs. I too am concerned with that big "pocket" filling with air at driving speeds.

For those smaller SUV's I would take the cross bars off, use foam blocks on the canoe and then lash the ratchet straps to the lengthwise roofrack bars. This is what I did on my Jetta wagon for a long time and it worked great. No bow or stern lines, I had a 14 foot canoe and a long roof, so the distance outside of the belly straps was quite short.

A little off topic, I just used a Prius to haul a 17 foot canoe. I removed the emergency recovery point from the spare tire kit, screwed into the front bumper. It made a great bow tie point, easy, cheap and stronger than any other option. I see a lot of people with those straps hanging out from under the hood, this is a way better option.
The recovery point is long, sticks out, so you don't have a strap rubbing on your paint.

I have the Thule crossbars mounted to the factory rails on my Nissan Pathfinder
I use the Thule canoe carrier with the provided straps to keep it secured to the roof and from sliding side to side.
I have fashioned two stainless pieces that fit nicely between the hood and fender (mounted to a fender bolt) to tie a bow line
I then use a single strap to loop from my trailer hitch from the stern of the canoe.

I’ve driven across country with this set up.

To each his/her own, but I wouldn’t recommend looping anything through the windows of your car.

Just to add a little tip. I learned from an outfitter. Take a short piece of rope and tie a knot with the loose ends, forming a loop. pop the hood on the car, slide knot between hood and fender, close hood. Now you have a easy to access loop. don't open hood, just pop it, knot will not pull out.

I haul my canoe on a Jeep Cherokee roof rack. I use web straps to tie the canoe down to the roof rack. Be sure to twist the part of the strap that is exposed to the wind so that it doesn't whistle. IMHO the best way to ensure that the front of the canoe doesn't get pushed sideways in the wind while you are driving 70MPH, is to tie the front of the canoe to loops of rope sticking out of the hood of the vehicle. Take a rope/cord whatever about 8 inches long, tie a knot with the two ends of the rope, put the knot in the engine compartment with the loop sticking out and close the hood. If you want you could put the loop at the corner of the hood. I use two individual ropes from each loop to the front of the canoe, just for peace of mind in case one rope should break.

quote JimS: "I too wondered about the door seals.
We leave Sunday so I'm not much interested in trying to buy a rack.
if we can't do it safely we'll leave the canoe behind, as much as I hate that idea.:)"

My point was that the Yakima system is connected to the factory rack on the vehicle. The Yakima system doesn't make the roof rack stronger - it just allows me to carry 2 canoes. So, forego the Yakima and Thule bars if you want and just use the factory rack. It will be okay. Tie down the front, the back, and either ratchet or rope tied the canoe as you noted in the OP and you'll be fine. Obey all traffic regulations.

quote IBFLY: "

quote JimS: "I too wondered about the door seals.
We leave Sunday so I'm not much interested in trying to buy a rack.
if we can't do it safely we'll leave the canoe behind, as much as I hate that idea.:)"

My point was that the Yakima system is connected to the factory rack on the vehicle. The Yakima system doesn't make the roof rack stronger - it just allows me to carry 2 canoes. So, forego the Yakima and Thule bars if you want and just use the factory rack. It will be okay. Tie down the front, the back, and either ratchet or rope tied the canoe as you noted in the OP and you'll be fine. Obey all traffic regulations. "

Thanks, you actually answered another question I had. My rack does fit the canoe fine but have always wondered if the studs that hold the Cr-v roof rack were strong enough to hold up to the lift on the canoe. It seems from responses they probably are as long as the bow and stern are secured as well

My other concern wss using the carry handles as bow and stern tie points since there aren't any other thwart carry bars or eyes in the front of the canoe to tie to. Will they hold at highway speeds?
I have good tie points under the car so that's not an issue.
Thanks everyone for the tips

Do you do anything to prevent damage to your minivans rubber water proofing around the doors/windows? Ive got a new minivan and have contemplated this but I would hate to damage the inside of the van."

No. I simply run the straps thru the doors. I do not ratchet the straps as tight at they can go, just so there is no slack. Snug. You won't damage the weather stripping. If you do this way, once you get the slack taken up, just have someone work the ratchet strap while you look at the weather stripping if you have any concerns. Surely I would not want you to ruin your vehicle, but you shouldn't have any problems.

Someone posted recently about a canoe that flew off a car on the freeway. I'll admit, I do go overboard when securing my canoe. It's not so much that my canoe will fly off and get crushed that I'm worried about, it's the car behind me, or the oncoming traffic that I'm concerned about.

With the tie downs front and rear to the loops in the hood (how I do it) or to tie points (as my buddy does it)and to the tow hitch or tie point this takes most of the stress off the roof rack. The belly straps are there mostly to prevent the canoe from fish tailing too much. I use ratcheting tie downs for all my tie points and have never had a problem.

JimS you can definately transport your canoe safely. You are getting a lot of good advice here. The common theme I think is to use those ratchet straps; they really make things easy.

quote brp1: "A little off topic, I just used a Prius to haul a 17 foot canoe. I removed the emergency recovery point from the spare tire kit, screwed into the front bumper. It made a great bow tie point, easy, cheap and stronger than any other option. I see a lot of people with those straps hanging out from under the hood, this is a way better option.
The recovery point is long, sticks out, so you don't have a strap rubbing on your paint. "

I tried that on my Prius last September and thought the tow hook was so-so. The underside of the car has rings for transport across the Pacific, which is what I use now for the stern. For the bow I made tie down loops out of 12" of 1" wide webbing that I stitched together, then cut a slit into. Pop the hood, and the bolts that attach the fender to the frame are accessible. They're the bolts which are about halfway up the hood line, you don't want the first ones as they just hold on the headlamps.

I don't have a proper rack yet, so I use nonslip foam blocks and the portage pads to place it on the roof. Cam straps across the belly through the cabin. Bow & stern are tied using rope to the grab handles - bow to the webbing tie downs and stern under the bumper to the tow rings.

That recovery hook idea is really great. I made some under the hood straps for my last car, which worked really well. But, if I could buy a 2nd recovery hook for my new Highlander, things would be really simple and secure. Great idea!

Tomster

I was specifically warned by both the manufacturer and an outfitter not to use ratchet straps. Only cam buckle straps. It is too easy to over tighten with the ratchet straps and stress the hull of the canoe. Use them at your own risk. I never will.

I also have a Yak rack that attaches to the car and under hood straps connected to the bolts for the frame.

another thread on subject

Welcome JimS. Nice to have you here. I use foam blocks that fit over the cross bars on my roof rack. I then attach three ten foot cam straps over the canoe and then to the roof rack. Finally I attach a rope to the front towing hook through the canoe eye and then to the other hook. I do the same in back only to the trailer hitch bracket. The canoe doesn't move and it's tight to the rack. It takes all of ten minutes, if that, to complete.

I think for this trip I will upgrade to cam straps instead of ropes. The ropes I've been useing seem to stretch a little too much for highway travel. Our local Walmart has some cam buckle straps in stock. Are these suitable or do I need something special?
Thanks everyone for the replys and a great forum!

Jim,
Where do you live? If you're anywhere close to Green Bay, WI, you can borrow my Yakima rack.

Also, you're invited to register on the site and join the fray. Good luck with your trip.

Cam straps can stretch when wet and shrink when dry. Just be aware of that and if its pouring, stop at a gas station with roof and make adjustments.

Then watch for overtightening when dry. One of the issues with ratchet straps is you can overtighten the straps and deform the hull. Harder to do with cam straps.

quote JimS: "I think for this trip I will upgrade to cam straps instead of ropes. The ropes I've been useing seem to stretch a little too much for highway travel. Our local Walmart has some cam buckle straps in stock. Are these suitable or do I need something special?
Thanks everyone for the replys and a great forum!"

As long as the straps have cam buckles they will work. They come in various lengths so make sure you get the longest that will work without having a bunch of extra strap. For example I use 10ft straps on my GMC Jimmy roof rack. There is a 15 ft available but it's way too long.

I've driven from the cities to northern Minnesota at 70mph with cam straps and rope bow/stern lines without a problem. It's very secure and keeps the canoe from becoming a kite...

quote serenityseeker: "I was specifically warned by both the manufacturer and an outfitter not to use ratchet straps. Only cam buckle straps. It is too easy to over tighten with the ratchet straps and stress the hull of the canoe. Use them at your own risk. I never will.


I also have a Yak rack that attaches to the car and under hood straps connected to the bolts for the frame."

Yeah, I have heard that elsewhere too. I should note that I'm strapping down aluminum and poly canoes; not too fragile. And even so, the ratchets don't need to be wicked tight.

I have used cam straps just fine too, so long as they are pulled snug.

quote serenityseeker: "I was specifically warned by both the manufacturer and an outfitter not to use ratchet straps. Only cam buckle straps. It is too easy to over tighten with the ratchet straps and stress the hull of the canoe. Use them at your own risk. I never will.


I also have a Yak rack that attaches to the car and under hood straps connected to the bolts for the frame."

+1...I would never use ratchet straps.

I use ratchet straps - if you are careful, they work fine. Hulls are really tough - think about all of the stress they go through blowing through the wind at 70 mph!

I have been using rope ratchets from for years. Never had a problem they work fast and hold great. I would stay away from the ratcheting straps where you can't feel how much pressure your applying. With the ropes you have to pull them and can feel how much pressure your applying. I also strap the canoe to my roof rack around the middle of the canoe. The straps just keep the canoe from side to side movement. I do 70 on the way up to Ely and had some really strong gusts and my canoe never moves. I have only had to stop 1 time to re tighten that was during 60 mph straight line winds.

JB

Meanards

Menards has them in the auto section.

The link below is a how-to guide for strapping a canoe to a car. The article has lots of helpful pictures. It's two pages, be sure to click the Page 2 link at the bottom.

http://www.redrockstore.com/canoetie/index.htm

jb in the wild, thanks for the info about the Rope Ratchet and the link to Menards, without the link I would not have checked into that. When tying the front with 4 separate ropes in the early morning when we are in a hurry to go it seems to take forever to make sure the ropes are secure and the same thing when taking the canoe off, it takes forever to untie the ropes. I'm going to Menards today to get some Rope Ratchets. I assume they are secure because you have been using them and you put them to the test for the rest of us.

By the way, the reason I go overboard tying my canoe to the car is because one time I was driving to Ely, 70MPH and I noticed the canoe start to turn and in the next split second it disappeared. It took me a second or two to realize that the canoe fell off the roof of the car but was still attached to the car by one rope and was being dragged down the freeway at 70mph in heavy traffic. I slowly pulled over and . . hurray for Kevlar, the Wenonah MNII was a little banged up but still ok to paddle.

UPDATE: After going to Menards, I realized that the Rope Ratchets are $15 each and I need two so instead of spending $30, I went with these Cambuckle Straps a two-pack at Menards for $7