When I started doing this I too was worried about the sail effect of the
canoe with the top up --- while it's not there in this pic I use a ratcheted
tie-down form the front of the canoe to the bumper and tension it to ease
the effect of the wind.........

Cheers,
Doug

On 4/5/06, bueses <bueses@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> on 4/5/06 11:42 AM, Doug Alcock at doug.alcock@GMAIL.COM wrote:
>
> >>
> >>> Oh, but the problem with the kayak is lifting the poptop
> >
> >
> > Here's a pic of my Westy with my 70lb canoe on top with the top
> > popped..............I can lift the top by myself (and I'm no muscleman)
> ----
> > the trick is to hop up into the luggage rack and lift from there. The
> boat
> > becomes a lever and you're lifting with your legs.........
> > http://doug.alcock.googlepages.com/vanagonwesty
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Doug
> Cool!  I wonder tho, how that weight affects the poptop brackets & the
> connection to the roof of the westy? (both in down direction & in uplift
> w/
> increased area/weight to be affected by wind)
>
> Tom-architect used to designing roofs so that they don't fail
>
>