Builders' Forum Archives

bow lines - use them!

Posted by Chris Taylor on Jun 18, 2004

I know this comes up frequently on this forum, but safety can never be over stated when it comes to car-toping your boat. Yesterday, a friend of mine was buzzing along a busy 4-lane freeway in the city with his R. Folland Sea Wolf on top when the left front foot of his Thule rack let go of the car. The boat was only secured to the rack bars. The bow suddenly lifted so high and so sharply that the keel made a nice crease in the trailing edge of the trunk lid to his Toyota Echo. [pause - while you picture this... and his face...and the face of the several drivers following at over 100 km/hr]. Fortunately, he was able to get the mess stopped safely on the shoulder without further incident. I said "why did you not have your bow-line on you supid @#$%?" Answer: "I was only going a short distance." Wrong answer bud! In slightly different circumstance, a bow-line could have saved a life. Anyway, despite the cruel forces likely applied to the yak, it appears completely undamaged. Lesson learned!