Securing kayaks on a T6.1 Ocean

[BobTheVan]

Hi, I have two SOT kayaks a Feelfree Gemini Sport tandem and a Nomad Sport solo. I have Thule Evo ProBars 2 meters wide. The total weight of the kayaks is 52kg not sure about the rack.

I have cam straps to secure the kayaks upside down, side by side. I wanted to secure the bows with straps to be sure on long trips in Europe.

Does anyone have any experience of this? I cannot find anywhere solid to attach the straps at the front of the van.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Hi, I have two SOT kayaks a Feelfree Gemini Sport tandem and a Nomad Sport solo. I have Thule Evo ProBars 2 meters wide. The total weight of the kayaks is 52kg not sure about the rack.

I have cam straps to secure the kayaks upside down, side by side. I wanted to secure the bows with straps to be sure on long trips in Europe.

Does anyone have any experience of this? I cannot find anywhere solid to attach the straps at the front of the van.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

You will over max advisable roof weight (50kgs max), but provided you don't open the roof when loaded....shouldn't be an issue.

You can buy anchors that you close under the bonnet, and then just loop your bow line thru them:

Yakima Hood Anchor (pair) no. 8007416

Lets you secure your gear when you don't have tow eye hooks for bow & stern tie downs (sold separately) . Hood Anchors secure under the bonnet or the boot.Coated to protect the vehicle's paintworkInstallation is simple - just drop them in placeSold as a pairLength: 22cm

www.roofbox.co.uk

 

[BobTheVan]

You will over max advisable roof weight (50kgs max), but provided you don't open the roof when loaded....shouldn't be an issue.

You can buy anchors that you close under the bonnet, and then just loop your bow line thru them:

Yakima Hood Anchor (pair) no. 8007416

Lets you secure your gear when you don't have tow eye hooks for bow & stern tie downs (sold separately) . Hood Anchors secure under the bonnet or the boot.Coated to protect the vehicle's paintworkInstallation is simple - just drop them in placeSold as a pairLength: 22cm

www.roofbox.co.uk

Thanks for the advice. I was aware of the weight restriction. I have seen the hood anchors. Have you used them? I was concerned that they may put to much strain on the bonnet?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Thanks for the advice. I was aware of the weight restriction. I have seen the hood anchors. Have you used them? I was concerned that they may put to much strain on the bonnet?

We didn't need to use them as our SOT (now sold) was quite short. Many people use them so I cant see any issues as they made specifically for purpose.

 

[ArunAlec]

One option is to fit the towing eye and use that to strap to. Might need to protect the paintwork. I Assume you are treating the front strap as a “safety“ line in case of a shunt or failure of the roof rack straps.

 

[Loz2286]

I used to use straps like these on other vehicles. Front and rear lines are to prevent the wind getting under the kayak and pulling it off. The main strap down lines go across the hull to any roof bars.

I've not tried this on a California, as my back is now screwed and the kayaks have gone.

Kayak Tie Downs

 

[owen_h]

You can make some anchor points using a short length of webbing folded over to make a loop. Then under the bonnet on each side remove one of the bolts holding the wings on . Refit the bolt through the webbing and you have a loop that will fit through the gap between wing and bonnet. When not in use it can fold inside. I used a length of seatbelt webbing as it’s wide and soft.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[owen_h]

Had the kayak on the roof yesterday (cold paddle in a NE wind) so took the opportunity to take some photos of the anchor point. For a long trip I would probably tie down using points on both sides of the bonnet and do something better than the kayak carry handle, such as a strop through the deck lines..

 

[BobTheVan]

Had the kayak on the roof yesterday (cold paddle in a NE wind) so took the opportunity to take some photos of the anchor point. For a long trip I would probably tie down using points on both sides of the bonnet and do something better than the kayak carry handle, such as a strop through the deck lines..
View attachment 90025View attachment 90026View attachment 90027

That's great. Thanks for going to the trouble of photographing your set up. I have seen a lot of theses solutions online but it really helps to see a real life example in the same vehicle.

I plan on having two SOTs on the roof, they have to go side by side as they won't stack. One is a tandem, the other is a solo. This will obviously be a little unbalanced by the sum of 10kg. Do you have any experience or feedback on this.

 

[ArunAlec]

That's great. Thanks for going to the trouble of photographing your set up. I have seen a lot of theses solutions online but it really helps to see a real life example in the same vehicle.

I plan on having two SOTs on the roof, they have to go side by side as they won't stack. One is a tandem, the other is a solo. This will obviously be a little unbalanced by the sum of 10kg. Do you have any experience or feedback on this.

Think a tandem + solo + roof rack is going to be pretty close or over the max load of 50kg. Worth checking.

 

[BobTheVan]

Think a tandem + solo + roof rack is going to be pretty close or over the max load of 50kg. Worth checking.

It would be over 50kg. Kayaks = 52kg + roofrack. Though this is only a problem if I raise the roof, which of course I won't with the kayaks on top. It was my understanding that the load capacity for the roof, closed, was arguably between 75kg and 100kg, depending who you believe. Are you suggesting its 50kg max load regardless?

 

[ArunAlec]

It would be over 50kg. Kayaks = 52kg + roofrack. Though this is only a problem if I raise the roof, which of course I won't with the kayaks on top. It was my understanding that the load capacity for the roof, closed, was arguably between 75kg and 100kg, depending who you believe. Are you suggesting its 50kg max load regardless?

Yes 50kg for lifting roof is my understanding, have a look at post 10 ……. https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...ndle-more-load-on-the-roof.43769/#post-567419

 

[BobTheVan]

Yes 50kg for lifting roof is my understanding, have a look at post 10 ……. https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...ndle-more-load-on-the-roof.43769/#post-567419

Thanks. I did a bit of digging around on the forum earlier and found similar posts. It seems as though it was 100kg and now reduced 50kg. I'll probably be carrying about 65kg and just have to live with it.

 

[WelshGas]

The weight limits given whatever they are, are for Static Weights, not dynamic.
Carrying items which are larger than the roof area, although the Static limit may not be breached, could have a significant effect on the Dynamic loading on the roof.
Eg: the dynamic loading due to sidewinds on a roof box would be substantially less than that produced by a 2 seater kayak which could have a side profile area 2 or 3 times greater than a roof box of same Static weight .

 

[BobTheVan]

The weight limits given whatever they are, are for Static Weights, not dynamic.
Carrying items which are larger than the roof area, although the Static limit may not be breached, could have a significant effect on the Dynamic loading on the roof.
Eg: the dynamic loading due to sidewinds on a roof box would be substantially less than that produced by a 2 seater kayak which could have a side profile area 2 or 3 times greater than a roof box of same Static weight .

Thanks for the info WelshGas. Could you clarify though? I'll be carrying approx 60kg to the south of France. Good, bad, borderline, slightly iffy, insane, reckless, dangerous, fine really?
I've had a T5 SE for 11 years and only had surfboards on the roof. I am about to receive a T6.1 Ocean (its in a port on the continent). After spending £60K+ on a van and kayaks, am I up up the creek without a kayak paddle? Thanks.

 

[WelshGas]

Thanks for the info WelshGas. Could you clarify though? I'll be carrying approx 60kg to the south of France. Good, bad, borderline, slightly iffy, insane, reckless, dangerous, fine really?
I've had a T5 SE for 11 years and only had surfboards on the roof. I am about to receive a T6.1 Ocean (its in a port on the continent). After spending £60K+ on a van and kayaks, am I up up the creek without a kayak paddle? Thanks.

I have no experience in relation to carrying objects on the roof but simple physics would suggest that carrying surfboards horizontally on the roof would have a dynamic impact that was close to the static impact due to the boards weight, due to their low profile, size and shape, unlike a kayak which is much longer and higher.
Personally, I would not carry such an item except at very low speed.
A regular, hardtop Transporter, is a different matter.

 

[Ch1pbutty]

An older post from shows tech spec with higher limits (150kgs)...they may have changed the wording to stop people from lifting the Ocean roof with more than 50Kgs loaded to avoid any warranty arguments over hydraulics; My understanding is that the roof design has remained unchanged over the years, so the technical limit would be the same on newer vans:

Roof loading

Hi, Apologies if this has been asked before... but can anyone tell me what the maximum load is that you can put on the roof, and still be able to raise the roof? Thanks Dave

vwcaliforniaclub.com

 

[BobTheVan]

I have no experience in relation to carrying objects on the roof but simple physics would suggest that carrying surfboards horizontally on the roof would have a dynamic impact that was close to the static impact due to the boards weight, due to their low profile, size and shape, unlike a kayak which is much longer and higher.
Personally, I would not carry such an item except at very low speed.
A regular, hardtop Transporter, is a different matter.

Thanks WelshGas, I understand that the surfboards have a minimal impact, that was the point I was making, I too have not carried any heavy loads on the roof before and am a complete novice in this regard.

 

[BobTheVan]

An older post from shows tech spec with higher limits (150kgs)...they may have changed the wording to stop people from lifting the Ocean roof with more than 50Kgs loaded to avoid any warranty arguments over hydraulics; My understanding is that the roof design has remained unchanged over the years, so the technical limit would be the same on newer vans:

Roof loading

Hi, Apologies if this has been asked before... but can anyone tell me what the maximum load is that you can put on the roof, and still be able to raise the roof? Thanks Dave

vwcaliforniaclub.com

Thanks Ch1pbutty. Well, that's kind of fascinating. This matches the advice I received from my dealer when I bought the T5 SE in 2011. Though that was just verbal, great to see it in b&w. However I do respect the technical points WelshGas raises.
I would understand that the roof of a California Ocean is more delicate than a standard Transporter for the simple fact that is a separate moving part. Though I would also expect it to be robust enough to withstand the requirements of many users who live a very active life ie surfing, cycling, kayaking etc.

 

[smlp]

We’ve carried a tandem SOT for a few trips to Scotland without any problems. Didn’t lift roof, even though under 50kg. no ties at front and tail