your idea for a short trip is fine.
just need good tie-down points. ...
I like to mount inverted hooks in two spots on the right side of the van ..
one near the rear vent up high, one on the pillar between sliding door and
front passenger's door ..up high, so I can tie large loads down to those
inverted hooks..
or loops are fine too.

on the left side ..I don't bother with that, since there's no sliding door
..
I tie down to the jacking points .
I just tie the snot out of anything like that .. extra ropes everywhere.a
so it's obviously  well secured...
if it's long off the back I tie a red flag on back there.

you should be fine, especially at low speeds..

oh...might find it fun to know a woman was arrested for driving with a giant
cardboard box on top of her car, with her 9 year old daughter up there to
hold the box down to the top of the roof.  No ropes...just a kid up there.
lol.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike "Rocket J Squirrel"" <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2010 2:51 PM
Subject: Strap a raft to the roof?

> So here's the scenario: Mrs Squirrel and I will be doing a bit of gentle
> rafting on the local river this Sunday. I inherited this big ol'
> inflatable boat, a North Pak Aquarius 896 9.5' Inflatable Hardbottom
> boat. Inflated, it's easily too big to fit into the Vanagon.
>
> And it is inflated, presently.
>
> I could deflate it, then re-inflate it at the put-in point, but since
> the place is only 4 miles away, and slow neighborhood driving to get
> there, I'm tempted to just figure out some way to strap the thing on the
> roof.
>
> How could that be done? OR, do I need to be talked down from this idea?
> --
> Rocky J Squirrel
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
> Bend, OR
> KG6RCR