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?

You will put a big dent in your roof and still have a loose boat.

You can get foam blocks to put on your roof, and straps to hold down the kayak. It's not an ideal situation, but it will work and it is cheap. CLC sell these, and others do too. http://www.clcboats.com/transport.php3?cart_id=CREATE

Also, Sears sells cheaper roof racks than the Thule and Yakima racks you can buy.

If you are handy, and have the tools, you can make a very sturdy rack for about $40 in about 4-5 hours. I did, with the intructions posted by John Monfoe a couple months ago. They should come up if you do a search for "roof rack."

Here is a picture of the rack I made.

All of these options will work without rain gutters.

I hope this helps.
-Dan