seano3ca wrote:
I tried the bow-first load, but struggled with the gorilla lift when most of the weight of the canoe was behind my shoulders. I didn't feel good resting the stern deck plate on the ground and turning around to achieve a better lift to put the stern on the truck.
I’m old, worn down and oft-aching (blown L2/L3). Loading with the extension bar, or sliding on via the rear crossbar, I opt to rest the bow on a crossbar, step out unencumbered, straighten up as my spine creaks and cracks, then walk to the stern and shift the hull between the crossbar stops. Your age, back and mileage may vary.
I do the same hoisting the canoe off the ground to get under the yoke; picking up just the bow, forward of center, and shuffling back under shoulders in the yoke. The stern tip on all of our boats with vinyl deck plates show some years of contact with rocks or pavement.
P1210076 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
Always on the stern, the bow deck plates are near virginal.
P1210077 by
Mike McCrea, on Flickr
That canoe is 15 years old; I figure I’ll be 105 before I need to replace the stern deck plate.
I am more considerate with our wood deck plates or composite tipped decked boats. I know approximately where the stem will rest on the ground when I set the bow in place and lay down a pad, even a truck floor mat will suffice.
seano3ca wrote:
I love the load stops - I've thought about buying gunwale brackets, but always cheaped out. Load stops will be on for the coming season for sure.
I am a huge fan for THAT style Thule Load Stop, especially the adaptive cushion tightened and smushed around the outwale. I am less a fan of (used to be pricier) Thule or Yakima designed canoe gunwale brackets.
Those (square bar) Thule Load Stops may have been discontinued recently, but they are still available from resellers.The (replacement?) Thule Aero bar load stops or (crude) Yakima Load Stops are less useful for canoes,
https://www.thule.com/en-us/roof-rack/r ... -_-1683229 https://www.rei.com/product/150198/yaki ... lsrc=aw.dsWe have Thule and Yakima “gunwale stops” from years gone by. Their edges are all vertical, and with flared or shouldered tumblehome hulls, or decked canoe cockpits, are best used with the stops positioned INSIDE the hull, facing outwards. That is an awkward place to adjust and tighten stops, high and tight between the roof line and rack, especially with a taller rack. Bring a step ladder.
One downside to gunwale brackets or load stops. Each Thule Load Stop occludes 3” of crossbar (two canoes will assuredly not be rubbing together) , even the shorter Gunwale Bracket designs take up 2” of space apiece. If you are carrying two canoes, each trapped individually fore and aft, that is four stops per bar; you have already sacrificed 12” of crossbar width just for stops.
Carrying two tandems, even on 78” bars, means that some (or all) of the load stops need to go inside the hull.
I am not sure the corporate manufacturer design-teams are really much considering actual canoeist crossbar spacing needs. There are dozens of designed cradles, J-bars, rollers and Hulluvators for kayaks, and damned little choice for open boaters.
There must be a better way, better designed canoe gunwale stops; something narrower, something that takes up less valuable racks crossbar space, something still easily removed/reoriented between flat | and angled / sides, with a bit of compressed cushion for the pushin’.
Eh, let’s think up with a dozen kayak, ski and snow boards designs instead. First manufacturer that comes up with a thoughtful 2-boat canoeist design has my business.