> After an incident last summer, I will never use foam blocks again. I
> though I was going to loose on my boat one windy day. We were on our way
> home from a trip, and had to travel about 300 miles. I would stop every
> half-hour or so to check the lines and the boat. I have never seen my boat
> flex so much in my life, I was a little concerned before the incident.

> We were traveling at about 65 mph on a two laner and a big rig passed us
> and the canoe flexed so much that I lost the foam blocks. The boat was all
> over the place on top of the truck. Luckily I had the bow and stern lines
> tied down and I also had two lines cross over the top of the boat tied to
> the pockets in the bed of truck (no topper).

> The next day I went out and bought a demo (Saris) roof rack for the cab of
> my truck. The boat sits right on the gunwale mounts and there are tie
> downs to the bar. There should never be any kind of flexing that will lift
> the boat to slide the boat around.

> So the moral of the story:

> If you are going to own a nice boat, transport it do it properly. Buy or
> build a high quality mounting system and always tie it down with bow and
> stern lines to your vehicle. I hadn't I would have probable had kindling.

> PS: Always use bow and stern lines to secure your boat if

> Jason I agree with your assessment of a pro/commerial rack system for carrying your "boat'. I have traveled from Wi to ME and back for the past 5 Summers without a problem, and last year I carried my newly built COHO still with no tie-downs on the ends,just used the ancra straps which came with the TLC saddles. I heard that YAKIMA has gone with a new model to replace the TLC saddles but I am in search of another set of TLCs (I even bought a full set of hully-rollers and used them only once). I have seen there performance while traveling cross-country and like there security. My question after viewing your message,"Do you ever carry a kayak with your canoe? (My wife wants/has a canoe and of course, I have a kayak - I just bought the longest bar) Can you mount your canoe in up- right or is it better upside-down? (I'm trying to convince her of a kayak instead!-her sisters converted to my side, there is HOPE!!!) Wayne G.