brom Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Has anyone any experience/bright ideas as to how one might manage to carry a two-man open canoe on/in/on top of a high-top panel van? I've seen a kayak fixing for the side of an Horizons Unlimited Transit, but this (I think) needs to be installed when the vehicle is being converted, and I think our canoe would be too heavy anyway. All I can think of is a trailer, which would make an enormously long outfit. I'm stumped. Any ideas? Brom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Would it be possible to carry it on the side of the roof rather than the top? Just thinking of how glaziers carry sheet glass on the side of their vans. HTH Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 All I can think of is a van roof rack and ladder, you can then have some rollers installed at the rear end of it so you can then push the canoe up (with someone up top to pull/guide it) and then secure it to the rack. Whether you'd be better off going for a standard van roof rack or a Fiamma type rack I don't know, you'll need to judge their suitability and weight (and cost). Oh, I assume the canoe isn't longer than the van!!! 8-) We had a problem in that we wanted a Canadian canoe but had nowhere to put it as our then motorhome didn't have any clear space to carry it without impinging on the roof vents, so instead went for an inflatable Gumotex Palava, which stored under the fixed rear bed - we had it for a good few years. Last year though, as our dogs didn't want to go out in it anymore, we sold it and as a stop gap bought a couple of cheapish Gumotex Junior canoes to see how we got on 'separately' - they've been great fun. Now we're selling thouse as we've bought some slightly bigger single inflatable canoes to splosh around in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob b Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Hi Brom, Have you considered one of the inflatable canadian canoes ? Our resident expert (Mel B) will be along soon to 'sell' you on the idea.and here she is !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 We carry a canadian canoe on our T25, but, the canoe is longer than the roof so the upturned ends hang over front and back screens, this keeps it fairly low, but if you have a longer and or higher van it will be akward to load, there are sliding type racks which might do job or as mentioned above rollers, either way if you have a Transit size high top will be a pain to load after a days paddling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brom Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Thanks for those thoughts, everyone. Certainly the palava of getting a big heavy tub onto the High-top Trannie is worrying - and buying a Palava might get around it! Don't you find, Mel, that inflatables get blown around in the wind too much for comfort? - that's what has always put us off the idea in the past. Brom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Hi Brom When we used to just have us 2, ie me and my husband, in the canoe it did get blown a bit, but with the weight of 3 dogs in it it was a lot better - the secret it to have them with a bit of ballast in them if they sit a bit high. One easy way to obtain this ballast (assuming you haven't got any 'heffalump' dogs!) is with some water carriers - the cheap collapsible type people use for camping etc, as you can just fill them to the level you need and place them in the canoe where you want, and then empty them at the end of your paddle - they are easy to store too, which of course is a big consideration in a motorhome. Before I bought our latest single canoes, I joined a canoe site which has a good forum: http://www.songofthepaddle.co.uk/ I asked a lot of questions about different inflatable canoes and got some good feedback, it's worth a pootle around on there under the 'Gear' section. There are lots of different inflatable canoes about now, many more than when we got the Palava. If I had to get a double one again, I'd go for something with more of a traditional Canadian canoe shape as it would cut through the water better, the Palava was fairly blunt so could be hard work at times. The Palava was a very rugged boat and looked as good as new when we sold it, after a good few years - it was tough enough for the dogs to jump all over and was never ever punctured by them. There seems to be 2 types of inflatable now - the Gumotex type where the whole thing is made out of the same material and the bladders are sealed, and ones with separate 'bladders' inside an outer cover. The upside of the Gumotex is that they are easy to dry and look after, but they can be a bit heavier and more expensive. We've now got 2 of the other type - called Wetline - and whilst the 2 side bladders keep dry inside their covers as they have a waterproof covering on the nylon material, the base one does get waterlogged as it gets in through the large zip so takes a while to dry out totally and therefore needs a bit more care. This is something which I'm going to have a think about to see if I can reduce the amount of water that gets in there with a cover or some such thing, not really thought about it much yet. We only got the Wetline canoes around a month ago and used them a couple of times on holiday in Germany and they were very good indeed, quite easy to paddle and didn't actually get blown much at all - once I've got the 'ballast' right they should be great. One thing to watch with the Gumotex canoes now though, is they did start making some in a 'lightpack' material, which is nowhere near as strong as the Nitrilon material that ours was made of, so make sure that it's not the light pack stuff. www.gumotex.com If you do decide to go for an inflatable one rather than your 'rigid' one, then do a lot of research on the web, you can knock a lot of money off the price you'd have to pay in the shops - we actually bought our Palava from Germany as it was £200 cheaper at the time (£600 in the UK). We got a good deal on the Wetlines too by shopping around. Hope that helps! Any specific questions, just ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brom Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Thanks very much for all that info - there's a lot to investigate there - most helpful. We'll get back to you if we have any queries. Brom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.