Kayak on top of car overnight ?

[billd]

Hey folks,
I might be taking off pretty early in the am tomorrow for the CBB so I'm thinking of putting the yak on top of the car tonight to save some time in the morning. Its an ocean kayak trident and I plan on putting cable locks through all 4 scupper holes to prevent theft. Is there any other reason why I shouldn't put it on the car overnight besides theft? Might be a silly question, but thought I'd ask rather than have my yak end up on 495. thx
Bill

[Shady]

I load up the night before each time I go

Sent from the water.

[J.A. Veil]

If you anticipate rain overnight, make sure you leave at least one scupper hole open in the cockpit and one in the rear well. If not, enough water weight can accumulate to deform the plastic. (based on personal experience)

[Deadwood]

Concerns



NO. I leave my yaks on the truck racks for weeks at a time while on vacation with just rubber straps or ratchet straps. I see your in Leesburg so you shouldnt have theft issues.
Relax, youll be fine. Have a good trip. Just remember to thoroughly secure your boat to the vehicle. The cable locks wont be enough to hold it to the racks of your vehicle securely.

[MetroMan]

I do it often as well. But I will be getting locking cables very soon.

[buzz]

I almost always gear up the night before. No cable locks or anything.
But then again the Torque weighs over 70 lbs and its up there pretty high. I have to open the front door of the Jeep and step on the rocker to reach the front strap.

[NukeMD]

Back when I would roof mount...I would load up the night before and tie the yak to the top, but not too tight. I would then tie a couple of knots in the straps, open the car doors, feed the straps inside the car and then shut the doors. That way the yak wasn't cinched down tight over night and any thief would have to open the door (or cut the straps) in order to get the yak off the car. In the morning I would just open the doors, pull out the knotted end of the straps and tighten down the yak. Viola'.

[JohnE]

Wow, cable locks through 4 scupper holes? I leave mine up on my truck all the time with a cable lock through one scupper hole whenever I stay in Norfolk, which is fairly often (or whenever I go on trips anywhere else really). It is really just a deterrent from some idiots going around messing with stuff. Much like an expensive bicycle locked up somewhere...if somebody really wants it, they will get it and there are not many locks on the market that will prevent the theft.

I leave mine locked up like that all the time and used to worry more about theft, but so far nobody has messed with my stuff down there. The other thing I would worry about is using or leaving ratchet straps on it and compressing the plastic too much. I use the straps that pull tight with hand strength only, and even with those you can go a little overboard on tension.

[Cowpokey]

Back when I would roof mount...I would load up the night before and tie the yak to the top, but not too tight. I would then tie a couple of knots in the straps, open the car doors, feed the straps inside the car and then shut the doors. That way the yak wasn't synched down tight over night and any thief would have to open the door (or cut the straps) in order to get the yak off the car. In the morning I would just open the doors, pull out the knotted end of the straps and tighten down the yak. Viola'.

That's a good idea, I'll have to try it...wait, I don't have doors.

I need to figure out a way to load mine, have it strapped down, and still be able to open the tailgate. The way I do it now, the tie down for the back goes over the back tire (mounted on tailgate) and to the receiver hitch on the bumper.

I'm going to work on a solution the next time I load the yak up, That should be tomorrow afternoon or Sat morning.