Roof Rack redo the best Kayak Roof Rack

OK, I've been running it like this for a while and I wanted to share it.  

These are 48 inch Yakima Bars connected to my curved roof with curved tracks from Proline Racks. The stacker is actually a set of Yakima cradles like this:

http://www.prolineracks.com/yakima-bowdown-folding-kayak-racks-240.jpg

This J cradle it mounted far over on the driver side as possible and then three boats can stack on the passenger side.  Additional accessories are pads on the passenger side of the bars and the all important bath mat for loading from the front, the side or the back.

Love LL Bean and Thule, but.......

Sometimes I wonder why they make an expensive problem that can be solved with an inexpensive everyday item.  In this case the Thule Water Slide is $39.95 which seems really expensive when a bath mat works better and the rubber grippy bottom side of a bath mat means you don't need to fiddle with any loops.

I've decided to offer a training class for kayak and canoe loading for $39.95 or $5.00 if you bring your own bath mat.

The Mothership

The plan is to modify the boat and add a top to carry kayaks and canoes just like our car carries them on a rack.  This will allow us to get to the coast on Friday night without the need for a hotel or a night paddle to a campsite to set up a tent.  Then on Saturday morning we are already where we want to paddle and we have a nice bed, kitchen, and shower nearby.

It will often be a mother ship for our kayaks and we are also naming it after our mothers.

Other than the hardtop we have a  lot of work to do to get this 40 year old boat in good shape.  But like our 54 year old house it has good bones and is worth fixing up.

Kayak's for fat Paddlers Update

Best Kayaks for Fat paddlers

I often see big heavy tall or fat paddlers looking for advice on their first kayak so I thought I'd start a list. Feel free to comment if you think something should be added to the list.

Here it is:

Wilderness Systems Pungo 140

Wilderness Systems Tsunami 145

Wilderness Systems Tsunami 175

Wilderness Systems Tarpon 160

Wilderness Systems Freedom (Discontinued)

Wilderness Systems Ride

Ocean Kayak Scrambler

Ocean Kayak Prowler 15

RTM Midway

RTM Tempo

Valley Aquanaut HV

Epic V7 and V8

Romany Excel

With the exception of the Ride and the Scrambler, the above boats have a very good reputation for keeping up in group paddles with Sea Kayakers.

I'd be very interested to learn what others think about this list.

More on Stretching can be bad for you.

NYT Stretching the Truth

It turns out there is more evidence that stretching is harmful.  The article above from the New York Times discusses this in more detail and it boils down to static stretching is bad and dynamic stretching while warming up is good.  A very interesting read that helps me understand why Tai Chi works better for me than Yoga or regular stretching.