How To Tie A Canoe To A Roof Rack

Whether you’ve got an upcoming trip to the lake planned with your family or you simply want to be able to safely

secure your canoe to your vehicle’s roof rack as and when you need – making sure that you know how to properly tie your canoe to your roof rack is a good skill to master.

Not only will learning how to tie a canoe on your roof rack ensure that you are able to actually travel from one destination to another without finding yourself with a damaged canoe on your hands,

it’s also important to make sure that you are aware of how to correctly tie a canoe to your roof rack so that you do not put yourself or others at risk of becoming injured while on the road.

The only question is: how do you go about correctly tying your canoe to your vehicle’s roof rack?

No matter whether you’ve got your own canoe or you’re planning on renting one for vacation – if you’re currently asking yourself this question, then rest assured that you have come to the right place. 

Luckily enough, tying a canoe to a roof rack is one of the safest ways to travel with one, but it’s still important to make sure that you know exactly what you’re doing – and this is where we come in to lend a helping hand.

Below, we are going to be talking you through an easy method that will ensure that you are able to tie your canoe to your roof rack safely.

So, without further ado, whenever you’re ready, just read on to learn more about how to correctly tie your canoe to your roof rack! 

How To Tie A Canoe To A Roof Rack

-To begin tying your canoe to your roof rack, you should first begin by taking your canoe and carefully lifting it up onto the roof of your vehicle.

If you don’t feel as though you are going to be able to lift it up by yourself, then you can always ask someone to provide you with a little help. In fact, it’s actually going to be a whole

it is a lot easier for you (and safer) if you are able to get someone else’s assistance.

-Once you have placed your canoe on the top of your vehicle, you can then proceed to begin maneuvering the canoe so that it is aligned perfectly with the crossbars of your roof rack.

It is important to make sure that your canoe has been positioned directly above the roof rack in a straight line so that it won’t fall off or become unbalanced while the vehicle is in motion.

As a side note, if you want to protect the base of your canoe from becoming damaged during transit, then you could place some foam underneath for extra protection.

-When you’re satisfied that your canoe has been correctly positioned across the top of the bike rack, you are then going to need to begin fastening your canoe to the roof rack so that it does not fall off while you are driving.

Take your cam strap and begin to wrap it around the rack bars and over the top of the canoe for both the front and rear ends of the roof rack.

Once you have done this, take the end of your cam strap that doesn’t have a buckle and begin wrapping it directly underneath the canoe and then through the buckle end to tighten the strap securely in place.

As a side note, if you can see that there is any strap leftover on either hand, you can go ahead and tie them up to prevent them from bouncing and flying around while you are traveling.

-To help ensure that your canoe is securely fastened to your roof rack, you should also consider securing both the front and back of your canoe with an additional bow and stern line.

This is entirely optional, but we do recommend that you make sure to incorporate this step while you are carrying out this method to make sure that the canoe is properly fastened to your roof rack.

Attaching your bow and stern should be super easy to do, as your vehicle should already have attachment areas integrated into the design of your car.

-Once you have carried out all of the above steps, all you will then need to do is simply inspect the canoe and roof rack to make sure that it has been properly fastened down.

We recommend that you push the canoe with your hands to make sure that it doesn’t move – if you can’t feel the canoe moving, then you can rest assured that the canoe has been properly fastened.

Final Words

There we have it! Thank you for taking the time to read through this guide to tying a canoe to your vehicle’s roof rack. Now that you have read through all of the steps above, we’re hoping that you’re now feeling much more comfortable to go ahead and try it out for yourself,

and are feeling confident enough to tie your canoe to your roof rack and ensure that you are able to travel with it without any safety hazard.

Remember, securing your canoe to your vehicle is one of the safest and most effective ways to travel with a canoe.

So, as long as you are making sure to follow all of the guidance and instructions that we have provided you with above, you’re going to find that traveling with your canoe is as easy as one, two, three. 

Now, all that’s left to do is put all of the instructions that we have given you above into practice and hit the road! Thanks for reading this article, and let the water-fueled fun commence!