If you transport your canoe in areas where there are stif crosswinds, those
foam blocks are pretty worthless.  The cheap rope that comes with those
kits doesn't hold a knot very well and unless you use  cam straps for the
bow and stern tie downs, yu're really risking it.  Imagine a 70 pound canoe
blowing off the top of your van going down he highway and crashing into
someone's windshield  behind you.  Do you think they'll survive that
mishap??  Maybe an extra million dollars worth of liability insurance is
cheaper than a sturdy canoe rack, but only you can make that call.  If
you're going 3 miles to the local lake, that's one thing, but a trip of any
length will have highways involved......

My final point to this subject is that the cheapo kits have NO way of
lashing the canoe laterally to prevent cross winds from blowing the boat
off the van.  YMMV

DM&FS

On Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 11:37 PM, Gabriel Hourtouat <ghourtouat@gmail.com>wrote:

> "...is it generally recommended to use the bars that fit into the
> gutter, or to drill into the fibreglass and attach directly to the
> poptop?..."
>
> Jeff: No bars required -- foam blocks suffice.  Google search "canoe
> on westfalia" to get some ideas.  One example:
>
>
> http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.westfalia.org/community/gallery/files/2/7/5/3/8/van-canoe.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.westfalia.org/community/gallery/showimage.php?i%3D1108&h=450&w=600&sz=48&tbnid=My5IwTtyiFTJyM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=120&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcanoe%2Bon%2Bwestfalia%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=canoe+on+westfalia&usg=__elNOfuXmbwn1CpjdqcezgAzDPkk=&docid=q8iXpjtORH9CXM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=jgszUKHpHsfrygGW_4HIBw&ved=0CFAQ9QEwAg&dur=495
>
> I would choose some other position for the foam blocks so that the
> canoe is not touching the van directly.  Could consider letting one
> end hang off the back of the van sufficiently so that the other end is
> in the luggage hold.
>
> Or could consider strapping a bar across the luggage hold to gain some
> clearance or stability with the canoe resting on foam blocks at the
> rear end of the pop top, depending on canoe length and beam.
>
> gabby
>