: Wife surprised me with a surprise weekend trip for my birthday. She
: arranged for my time off at work, childcare for the kids, and
: lodging at a bed and breakfast. I didn't know what was happening
: until Thursday when my responsibilities became load the kayaks
: and bikes and get off work at 3:00. We drove out to the Black
: Hills of SD and spent a 75 degree, no wind day kayaking and
: hiking on Lake Pactola followed by another perfect day hiking
: and biking. WOW, it couldn't have been better; what an awesome
: weekend!!

: *Now then... On Wednesday I read a forum post from Bill H
: suggesting additional tiedowns for a vehicle mounted kayak;
: "commercial carriers do break". Normally, I just strap
: my yak to the J carriers and blast down the road. Bill's post
: caused me to think twice and add a couple extra straps.

: When we left on Thursday, there was a 35 mph wind out of the NW, we
: were driving to the west at 70mph. 20 miles down the road, we
: heard a loud clunk on the roof. We quickly pulled off the
: interstate and surveyed. The front left J carrier plastic mount
: had broken. This was not the carrier holding her little plastic
: yak, it had my hand crafted great awk. Without some extra strap
: support, it is possible that 400 hours of work might have
: cartwheeled down the interstate into the grill of an oncoming
: tanker truck! ...had that been the case, all my wife's efforts,
: an awesome weekend and the picture I attached to this post would
: have turned out quite different. If in doubt, add a strap!

Glad your kayak is OK. I never trust racks and always attach around the bars and have redundant attachments. Must be the rope rescue mentality. One doesn't want to see rock whistling by for lack of a backup.

What a nice birthday surprise from your wife! You're a lucky man.

Kirk