> Car top

> What does every one use for Kayak carriers? The logical choice, for me,
> would be the Thule "H2GO" saddle carrier,
> http://www.thuleracks.com/874.html , which is compatible with my roof
> rack. But Yakima has a roller system incorporated in their carrier and
> thought that would be a good feature to have.
> http://www.yakima.com/Products/water/kayaks/hullyrollers.htm Is it just
> over kill to have rollers for loading and unloading? What about some other
> low tech solutions, anyone wish to share? I've never had a Sea kayak
> before, but I'm guessing that loading and unloading a 17-20 foot kayak
> would be difficult for one person?

I use the foam v-blocks on my factory roof rack on my Cherokee. Put blocks on roof rack, off to one side. Position kayak behind, and in-line w/ vehicle on ground. Lift bow and set on rear rack. Go to stern, lift it and slide yak fwd on top of rack. Lift stern and place in rear v-block. Lift bow and place in fwd v-block. Slide fwd v-block to center of rack. Slide rear v-block to center of rack. Tie it down.

When I carry 2 boats, I have a yakima rack that clamps to drip rails. It is just the straight pipe - no saddle or brackets. Use the same foam blocks.

When using the tupperware boat, I carry the boat on my shoulder, align myself parallel to the side of the vehicle, and sorta benchpress/throw the thing up there.

Cheap and effective, cost $18/set. The hard part is getting the boat to the roof. I dont see how rollers would help that. Seems all they do is reduce friction a bit when sliding the boat fwd after it is up there.

Dave Colant