Anthony,
Please tell us if your new kayak is plastic or fiberglass; a river boat or a
sea kayak (length being the most obvious difference).... it makes a
difference in how you tote it on top.
Bill
-----Original Message-----
From: Anthony L. Mourkas <frankenstein@TELPLUS.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Thursday, March 30, 2000 7:20 AM
Subject: Kayak Transport on a Westy

>I won the Old Town Sea Otter kayak being raffled off last weekend at my
>son's basketball tournament!!!  We are pumped!!!  I have had plenty of
>with canoes but I must admit to being a totally ignorant first time kayak
>paddler.  We would like to take it along on a road trip in a few weeks
>and would appreciate some tips on how to best carry it up top on a Westy.
>
>
>We will also be carrying four bikes on our new rear hatch mounted
>Paulchen rack and an assortment of gear in a dry bag that takes up the
>entire luggage rack and is about one foot in height from the bottom of
>the luggage rack.
>
>We brought the boat home (60 mile trip) from the tournament by scavenging
>some rope from teammates vehicles and lashing it to the Thule crossbars,
>and front and rear tow hooks, on my wife's Jetta.  The boat was inverted
>and the flat area around the cockpit was what actually rested on the load
>bars.  This seemed very stable on a short 60 mile trip.
>
>The simple no cost solution would be to set my extra tall Thule uprights
>and load bars up over the pop top and lash on the boat as above.  Or I
>could spring for the artificial rain gutters and bolt them to the pop top
>and use my lower profile uprights that I used with this setup on my
>former Westy.  A little additional cost, a little additional angst in
>drilling holes in the pop top, but as long as the boat would clear the
>bikes in the rear, I could raise the pop top without dismounting boat or
>rack.
>
>Other questions:
>
>- Are the luggage rack tie downs of sufficient strength to anchor a tie
>down line from the bow of the boat?
>
>- I have the Thule canoe carrier kit.  Anyone use this to secure a kayak
>using the stock configuration?  Alternately, can the four mounting
>attachments in this kit be installed on the bars "backwards", rotated 180
>degrees, so that they serve to locate the boat on the crossbars from
>inside the cockpit, and preventing F-B and L-R movement?
>
>- Can I use the foam blocks and just lash the boat to the roof?
>
>- Oh yeah, the boat did not come with a paddle.  Any buying tips
>appreciated.  Also are most paddles one piece, or are there some that
>break down for transport, or are adjustable for different users?
>
>- Where do you carry your paddle in your fully loaded Westy?
>
>Thanks for any and all suggestions.
>
>Tony
>
>Anthony L. Mourkas
>Hampden, Maine, USA
>1984 Vanagon Westfalia
>1987 Vanagon GL Syncro
>1991 Jetta Eco Diesel
>