: I have a 13ft fiberglass kayak and I am having trouble moving it on my car. I
: would rather not have to dish out the 3 or 4 hundred dollars to use the
: thing.
: Does anyone have cheaper way to move the boat? I do not have rain gutters on
: my car. I thought about using a half of an extenstion ladder. I could
: secure the kayak to the ladder at the mid point and then the ends I could
: tighten to the under side of the car. Any thoughts?

What would you gain by tying the boat to the ladder which you have tied to the car as opposed to just tying the boat directly to the car? My guess is that you're trying to figure out how to secure the boat in the middle when you don't have a rack attached to the car. No problem. You can do that just fine with foam & nylon straps.

My rack-equipped car spent a couple days in the shop getting a hose transplant last August while I was visiting my parents-- leaving me driving my mother's non-racked Acura Legend. My niece & I got to the beach & back with two 17 foot kayaks on the roof. I laid two bath towels on the roof so I wouldn't scratch it, and tied the boats down at both ends and in the middle. To do that, I opened both car doors, ran the strap over the boats, and around into the car, threaded one end through the cam buckle on the other end and cinched it tight. - flat nylon webbing straps work great, because you can still easily close the car doors -- it probably wouldn't work so well using rope. The boats rode securely, if not elegantly. If I routinely had to move a kayak on a non-racked car, foam blocks would have been nicer, but the towels worked fine (and yes, I did shake the sand off them & wash them before I stuck them back in my mom's towel cupboard!!) It all worked out okay. I didn't scratch up my mom's car roof. The boats got to the beach & back without falling off. My car got a new set of hoses --*before* anything real exciting (like having one blow out on some highway and have coolant spewing everywhere) happened -- and now it runs just fine.)

Of course, you could just roll down the windows and run a rope through & tie down the boat in the middle, but that would make it more difficult getting in and out of a 2 door car...... however, it would make it more entertaining for any spectators at your put-in.....

Julie Kanarr