Next week I will be in Toronto at the Outdoor Expo. I went there last year
and there were several exhibitors showing off their various kayak handling
products for car-topping. Our booth was understaffed so I didn't get a
chance to look around much. This year we have a lot more people coming. If
anyone has a particular question to ask or product to look at, I will be
glad to at least get pictures and literature. Just let me know.

Jim

On Thu, Feb 11, 2016 at 9:43 PM Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>
wrote:

> For years I used the Yakima HullyRoller/saddle combo on my Westy
> (https://www.yakima.com/hullyrollers-1pair).  I mounted the rollers close
> to
> the back, and it was easy to slide a 14' kayak on and off by myself. It
> would be even easier on a tin-top.
>
> There is no need to fear mounting the brackets
> (https://www.yakima.com/widebody-brackets) for a rack on your Westy top,
> it's very strong fiberglass, and you can even add "poptop shocks" of
> varying
> strength to open the top with the kayak on: www.poptopshocks.com.
>
> Stuart
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> David Weaver
> Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2016 7:23 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: Thule Hullavator Kayak Carrier
>
> I would much prefer to load/unload from the slider side for both
> convenience
> and safety.
>
> It tends to keep me further away from traffic at busier launch sites. I¹m
> in
> the Lakes Region of NH where we have far too many out-of-state drivers
> staring at their cell phones or in-dash GPS to pay attention to anything
> going on around them. The slider side also gives me easier access to my
> gear.
>
> Will not be carrying on my Westy as I do not want to drill the top to mount
> the rack. A gutter mount is too much hassle when I want to open the poptop.
>
>
> On 2/11/16, 9:37 PM, "kenneth wilford (Van-Again)" <kenwilfy@comcast.net>
> wrote:
>
> > One of my customers has one on their Syncro Westy.  I believe it is
> > set up to pick the kayak up from the driver's side.  Why not just do
> > that instead of worrying about the sliding door?
> >
> > Ken
> >
> > On Thu, Feb 11, 2016, 8:48 PM David Weaver <busboy-nh@comcast.net>
> wrote:
> >> Just curious if anyone has used a Thule Hullavator Kayak Carrier on a
> >> tin top Vanagon. I can load my 12 foot kayak inside the van, but have
> >> to remove the front seat to be able to close and lock the rear hatch.
> >> Not the best arrangement, especially when you have a passenger.
> >>
> >> Also want to know if when mounted on the right side of the van
> >> whether there is enough clearance to leave the slider open while the
> >> rack is lowered to load or unload the kayak. The Thule website simply
> >> says the rack fits the Vanagon, nothing more....
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >>
> >> Dave Weaver
> >> Charlestown, NH
> >>
> >> 88 Vanagon GL
> >> 90 Westy
> >
>