I agree with what John and Steven said. Once while on
a trip to Baja our surfboards AND surf-racks got
ripped off the top of our 1970 VW bus w/ no pop-top. I
can still see our boards spinning up in the air behind
us. Amazingly my two boards survived without major
damage(they were stuffed inside a board bag) The
reason they came off was the same....we got passed by
a Big Rig going 85 MPH while we were going 65MPH.
Interesting note: these racks that failed were solidly
attached to the rain gutters! the surf racks got
ripped off by the truckers wind and the weight/size of
our boards.

On another note, once I travelled from San Diego to
FLorida with two longboards and 3 shortboards attached
to my THULE racks on my Westy.
My boards AND surf racks survived that trip OK and i
still use these racks today.

Phil

--- John Runberg <jrunberg@MAC.COM> wrote:
> With even a decent used longboard going for $300+
> making sure it stays on top is important. What you
> describe could possibly work, although pesonally I
> wouldn't drill through the top. Seattle's a wet
> place and unless it's perfectly sealed (and stays
> that way) you're inviting water to collect up top
> and cause mold. Only takes a little.
>
> Other thought: imagine the amount of lifting force
> your log will have while traveling 55mph down to the
> beach! This may not be the best place to save a few
> dollars - Yakima 1A towers are common and cheap on
> *bay and you can use galvanized plubming pipe
> instead of the $$$ yakima cross bar. That just
> leaves the fake gutters to abuse your bank account
> (and maybe a used set of locking cores, too).
>
> While you're saving for all those bits you can carry
> the board inside if no-ones riding in back. I
> suspend a wooden dowl on the front coat hooks with
> some old climbing rope. With a little padding on the
> sides (to keep it from banging back and forth) and a
> little foam pipe insulation on top it makes a great,
> quick carrier for boards over 8'. Anything smaller
> can just rest with it's nose on the floor.
>
> john
>
> > I'm considering strapping a long surfboard to the
> top of my westfalia
> > roof and am wondering about the wisdom of this. I
> want to avoid the
> > $200 or more cost of a Thule of Yakima racks,
> which I've heard works.

=====
Phil
84' Westy...Tiico'ed
00' Cannondale MTB
95' S9 Skateboard
04' New Balance 705 All Terrain's

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