Do You Canoe?

I have an 11'9" Old Town one person canoe. It fits on the YJ, with Thule roof racks, using rain gutter emulators from Thule. I strap it down pretty tight with a ratcheting nylon strap deal, also from Thule. I would not recommend this setup for any but short haul use, mainly because the Jeep is just too short, to be a convincing canoe carrier, even with one of the shortest canoes made. Also, rain gutter emulators, bolted to fiberglass, are not really the same as rain gutters. At this point in life I camp out of my Suburban. I cannot overemphasize the importance of sleeping up off the ground in the mountains. If I had to carry the canoe long distances on the Jeep, I would probably investigate some kind of bumper tie down.

A fiberglass canoe, if not padded properly and tightened down just so, can make the most amazing noises on a roof rack. It has to be heard to be believed.

Earle

I should have mentioned I have a rag-top.... I know what you mean about the noise, I used to carry the canoe on my Toyota Tercel...heehee...the canoe and car were both 14' long!

Seahag

"Earle Hort>I have an 11'9" Old Town one person canoe. It fits on the

Have you considered trailering it instead? You can get a pretty decent

Earle, you would have gotten a real belly laugh at my experience last Labor Day. A couple days in the camping trip a freak storm dumped two to three hundred gallons of water into my tent at 3 AM.

It was just like in the cartoons when I unzipped the fly and all the water came gushing out! I stood there half asleep watching everything I owned washing down the hillside toward the lake.

After picking up what I could find I threw all the stuff back in the tent and crawled into the back of the WJ to sleep.

I stayed there the rest of the trip.

Nick was the only one that stayed dry. He was safe and cozy in his camp bed above the streambed.

Actually, a little box trailer is really good. I found it handy because I could pack all the camping stuff dany day during the week and put the canoe on top ... and just hitch it up and leave right away Friday after work. And the box trailer I had was actually a boat trailer that I put a plywood "box" onto myself. The advantage was the tongue length (ok, I can hear the jokes forming from here) that made trailering, backing up a little easier.

You can get an old boat trailer free most any weekend in the summer. I see them abandoned near the boat ramp all the time.

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

Earle

Run and fetch her one, will ya!

Yeah I did, but we live on our boat at a tiny marina. The landlord would go nutz if I tried to store a trailer here. Heck, he threw away my potted irises (2- 8" pots) one year. A roof rack would be easy to put in our office when I don't need it.

Seahag

Heh heh...

Seahag

Hey! I saw one in a ... umm... catalog... dangit, what is the name f it... in the Dr's office... c'mon.

It's right on the tips of my fingers..

oh, it's those guys that used to sell a lot of junk, still do but have a bunch of stuff for Jeeps now.

(45 minutes later - washed the Jeep)

Still cant remember... OH OH OH!

JC Whitney!

Yea, saw one in the Whitney catalog!

all better now.

: :

One what?

Seahag

I have put one the Olympic Generation II rack on my TJ with Yakima load bars with the little canoe brackets. I can put the bars on with or without the basket. I take the two far outside stringer lose and bolt the bars down without the basket and flip over the 4 side eye bolts and bolt the bars down with the basket. As far as noise goes it is not really any more noisy with the canoe that it is with the rack and basket (that means you can't hear anyway). I am working on a faring for the whole thing to see if I can reduce the volume some. The spread is enough to easily support the canoe and unless it rips of the rack which is bolted to the windshield and the frame it is not going anywhere. My canoe is long (16 foot Kevlar). I have transported it a couple hundred miles one way on trips before with no mishaps or loosening of anything. I love the Olympic rack design but don't must like the quality of the materials. It started rusting almost immediatelly in some places. Wire brush and rustoleum seems to have fixed the problem though.

Oh yeah, you just though you got bad gas mileage before. The canoe really makes it bad.

I forget.

Oh yea, a roof rack

: > It's right on the tips of my fingers.. : >

: > oh, it's those guys that used to sell a lot of junk, still : > do but have a : > bunch of stuff for Jeeps now. : >

: > (45 minutes later - washed the Jeep) : >

: > Still cant remember... : > OH OH OH! : >

: > JC Whitney! : >

: > Yea, saw one in the Whitney catalog! : >

: > all better now. : >

: >

: >

: > : : > : : >

: >

: :

When I put the roof rack on the Liberty, I lost 1.5 mpg. I was really shocked.

Now, I get lousy mileage, but I expect it LOL

I'm sorry to hear about that rack rusting, it was the other system I was looking at. I like the Congo because it is a bit lower than the others. I reckon I can afford the gas once a year to go canoe/camping!

Seahag

Ah ha...they have lots...and lots...I think I'm sticking with the Kargo Master Congo Cage...

Seahag