The first step in tying your canoe or kayak down to your car is laying the straps over each bar.
Tying kayak to roof of car.
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.
Pick up your kayak onto the roof rack on your car so it is right side upwards.
Tying your kayak for the roof rack.
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.
The bow front of one s kayak should be at the front end of your car plus the stern back of one s kayak should be at the back.
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.
You might need somebody to assist you to pick it up.
Take the buckle of your cam strap and pass this over the top of your boat.
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 front of the kayak should be facing forward.
To tie down a kayak place it right side up on your roof rack and center it.
Load the kayak assuming your roof rack and kayak carrier are already installed lift your kayak onto your vehicle roof.
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.
Put both ends of the strap over your kayak to the other side of your car.
Tips for tying down a kayak.
Tie the straps down with cam buckles to secure the kayak.
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.
Just be extra careful when backing up.
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.
Unless you are carrying two kayaks or other gear side by side on the roof your kayak should be centered on your vehicle roof.
Of course you will want to make sure the buckles on the end of the straps don t scratch your car door.
Step 2 wrap one cam strap.
Walk around and grab the ends.