ECO TIPS - Car - topping your Kayak On the Automobile The family car offers some spectacular and subtle ways to destroy your kayak: The trailing bow/stern line. This apparently harmless oversight can result in one of your more memorable driving experiences. It occurs when the bowline is run over by the wheel of the car. The effect of the sudden impact of the front section of your kayak onto the hood of your car - gives new meaning to the term V 8. The boat usually breaks in two just forward of the cockpit or across the roof rack bar. AVOIDANCE: Don't leave trailing lines. The flying brace of kayaks. In this scenario, your roof load of kayaks may be noticed floating over a farmers fence or worse into oncoming traffic. This condition is usually the result of cheap roof racks or good quality roof racks, which loosen their grip either due to an unusually heavy load or the gradual working loose of screw-on parts. AVOIDANCE: Buy reliable roof racks and check their adjustment regularly. Tie the boats down fore and aft. Squish cracks in the mid-section. These are fine hairline cracks, which appear on the sides of the kayak usually above or close to the roof rack bar. They have two common causes: cinching the boat to the roof racks too hard, and cinching the bow and stern so hard the hull is bent over the roof rack bar. AVOIDANCE: Use a cradle and only cinch the bow and stern enough to prevent blow-away. Bow and stern lines may be attached to tow hooks or the bumper. A hot exhaust pipe can melt some rope materials. Concertina stern (sometimes known as 'involuntary window'). This affliction usually involves people with new double kayaks on top of small cars. It is the result of forgetting that you have eight feet overhanging at each end. Sometimes the result is a puckered, crumpled stern. Other times it can result in a hole in the supermarket wall you were backing up to or in the back of the camper in front of you at the lights. An interesting variation is the "parking lot crunch" which occurs when you forget you have anything on the roof at all as you enter your customary underground parking. AVOIDANCE: Attach a hanging rag to both ends of the kayak to remind you of your new extremities. Travelling With Kayaks Once again the roof of your car is the area of greatest risk for your boat. Many evil spirits can be appeased by carrying the boat pointed forward with the rudder taped securely to the deck at the appropriate end of the vehicle. It is a pretty aerodynamic shape like this but it is wise to keep the speed below 100 km/hr and don't travel with a cockpit stuffed with your camping treasures or you may well end up leaving a trail from your home to your destination as one by one, the wind lifts them out and discards them. Rainwater can be a problem when it collects in the cockpit and can damage the hull from sheer weight. Solve this problem by fitting a cockpit cover or even better; carry the kayak upside down during heavy rain. If you have no alternative but to use a common carrier and don't have a hardened steel pipe in which to ship your boat, (some cretin is bound to impale your kayak with a forklift or load refrigerators on top of it) you might try reinforcing the deck with foam pillars, wrapping the boat in cardboard then plastic and finally constructing a crate around it. You might consider adding some CAUTION NERVE GAS signs to earn respect.