: I'm more than a little surprised at the comment saying sooner or
: later everybody loses a boat. I guess we all know WW people are
: half loco, and/or bounced their beans off rocks a few times
: (speaking of rocks again), maybe that's the deal. But I've never
: come close to losing a boat, nor believe it's any kind of
: inevitability. If you use proper rack systems and proper
: tie-down practices, you should never have a problem. The better
: the cradles fit, the less cinching down is necessary (ratchet
: straps -- OMG!!). I just barely snug my boats down, but use only
: top-quality (Yakima) straps.

It's the face that takes the hits. The helmet absorbs the other hits. It's funny paddling with a dentist, but that's another story...

Whitewater boats are shaped differently, and they're short. If you look at a "standard" boat like an All-Star or an EZ-G, they're high in the middle, slope down strongly, and then there's no kayak left. Even more so with the newer boats like the Rock Star, Project X or Molan. It's hard to tighten them down, because when you tighten the front strap it wants to squirt toward the back. Tighten the back it wants to squirt toward the front. they're flat on the bottom, so most people don't use cradles and they slide easier on the bars. If they're not tightened evenly and carefully they literally squirt right out. Whitewater boaters also tend not to use J-cradles, just stuff that amounts to a vertical bar. That doesn't help either. But- I also know sea kayakers who've had it happen to. I've seen aftermarket racks detach from car roofs and aftermarket crossbars from roof racks. I've also heard of someone (I heard this first hand from the person, but I didn't see it) who had their factory rack come off from their car. I've also know someone whose bow line wasn't tied on to the front bumper securely. It came loose and wrapped around the front wheel at speed and it wrapped up around the tire, jerking on the front of the boat over and over again. They stopped immediately, but even so it had cracked their commercial glass boat to the point where it was a total loss. This doesn't happen to whitewater boats, though... they usually bounce a couple of times, you put them back up on the rack then get on the water again.

m

The moral of my story is- NEVER take it for granted that your kayak will stay put. Check and replace worn gear regularly, and be careful.

m