Ready for Adventure

The veggie van has roof racks! A chance to go on a canoe trip came up so I hastily put together a set of roof racks. I had a broken set of pipe racks, so I salvaged the feet and used 2X4s for the crossbars. The cross bars have a strip of wood along the bottom for stiffness. Works just fine and cost less than 20 dollars in new materials.

The canoe is an Old Town Discovery. To provide a sense of scale, the canoe is 17 feet 4 inches long. The racks sit around 9 feet up in the air. It’s quite the trick to get the boat up there. I lift up the canoe on my shoulders and carry it to the back. The bow of the boat goes up on the back roof rack. Then it’s slide forward in one smooth motion so that it reaches the front rack. Bow and stern ropes are used to pull it into its final position.

Tying it down was a bit awkward the first time, but it should go faster next time. The important thing is that it stays where it belongs.

The racks are wide enough for two large canoes. Almost all my vehicles have ended up with roof racks. They are just the thing for moving ladders, lumber, and boats, of course. I used to carry a 20 foot cedar strip canoe on top of a Dodge Omni. It looked funny. The canoe was much longer than the car, but it handled just fine.

-Sixbears