How to Tie Down a Kayak: Step-by-Step Guide

Video: Jocelyn Peters

Preparing for a day out in your kayak, but unsure about safely transporting it on top of your vehicle? Tying down a kayak to your roof rack shouldn’t be a hassle. This guide, along with a helpful video, is here to make it easier for you!

Centre and Balance Boat on Rack

Begin by ensuring that the boat is centered and balanced on the vehicle. A good way to test this is by resting the boat and letting go of it completely, if it does not move, it is balanced.

Wrap Strap Around Rack Anchor, Adjust Length

Next, place the straps under the crossbar. Ensure that the strap end with the buckle is shorter than the end with no buckle. Once you have placed the strap under the front and back bar, you can toss the straps over the body of the boat.

Secure Strap Around Opposite Anchor

Move to the other side of the vehicle and wrap the strap end without the buckle under the crossbar, then feed it through the bottom of the buckle. Repeat this step on the back bar.

Tighten Kayak onto Roof Rack

Snug up the strap on both bars then begin to tighten all the way down. Once the straps are tightened, shake the boat to ensure it doesn't move around.

Knot and Secure Strap

To finish securing the body of the boat, make a number four with the excess strap length and tuck the end in behind. This will create a simple knot in case the cam buckle loosens off. Then to deal with any excess strap, we like to make a daisy chain. To start a daisy chain, make a letter P with the tail behind it. Once you have this, pull the strap through to make another small loop. Continue to make small loops until all the strap is used up.

Optional Bow and Stern Lines for Longer kayaks

Now that you have secured the body of the boat to the crossbars, it is time to do the bow and stern lines. If you do not have a metal tow hook on the front and back of your vehicle, we recommend using the Thule Quick Loop. Begin by placing the black strap included in the Thule Quickdraw through the grab loop of the canoe on both the bow and stern. Attach the carabiner also included in the Thule Quickdraw package, onto the black loop. The metal hook will attach to the Thule Quick Loop or tow hook on your vehicle. Once you have this attached, pull the rope to tighten.

Now your boat is ready to be safely and securely transported to your next adventure!

We recommend using the following products to make tying down your boat super simple: