# don't be lazy



## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

Here's a story from something that happened to me over easter. Two lessons learnt/reinforced - don't be lazy and do things properly and also that perception swing kayaks are tough!!

It was the thursday before easter and I wanted to be on the road - fast! I need to swap my temporary work ute for my usual mode of transport, the troopy.

I usually never have to take the kayak on the ute but the couple of times I have it has worked ok - with more hanging over the tail of the tray than over the roof of the ute, and very well secured. But today I only had 30kms to drive before I had to unstrap it all again and shift it to the troop carrier...

I plonked it on upside down and the very end of the yak sat very neatly on the very end of the tray - looked ok so I left it. I then attached the front with a pull tight strap (one that clinched onto the strap - not a ratchet type) through the scupper holes and around the roll bar and pulled it as tight as it could go. I then attached the back VERY securely with a good spanset ratchet strap. Chucked all the other toys in and off I go.

This is where it goes a but awry.

On the mine access road I worked her up to 105 and was finally, happily, on my way. BANG! WTF was that - look in the rear view mirror and, imagine if you will, the front 7/8 of my yak bent 180 degrees back along itself flapping out the back of the ute at 100km'h while the back 1/8th is still very securely attached inside the tray. Oh crap. It somehow stays attached while I stop but falls out when I pull off the steep sided road.

With no yak hanging over the back of the tray and most of it sticking out over the roof it had effectively acted as a giant lever - putting enough tension on the pull strap until it finally, and dramatically just let go. The yak "bounced" back to a semblance of it's original shape and then was further coerced by me jumping on it.

It had large stress marks and a couple of what I thought may be holes going through the hull caused when it folded (didn't really look like they would though) but remarkarbly - for a yak that had been folded 180 degrees - it was not too bad. Turns out it is fine - the picture with the transducer attached is what it currently looks like, I manipulated it no more but it was on the car roof in the sun for a while which probably helped it out.

I'm just bloody glad it happened when no one else was around me - if it happened on the highway with cars behind me I can only imagine what sort of fright it would have put up people.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Travis she sounds more like a see saw than a swing mate.

Really amazing how tough the poly yaks are, in every story of one coming adrift they seem to just come through with a few scars


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## Davey G (Jan 15, 2006)

Dodge said:


> Travis she sounds more like a see saw than a swing mate.


quote of the year from Dodge! :lol: :lol: :lol:

I would have thought that the hull wouldnt have been able to get bent out of shape that much, and would have also thought that, even at that speed, the front strap should have coped with the pressure.... obviously not!

glad to hear everything worked out ok..


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## Clarkos (Oct 11, 2006)

Strong little buggers. Not sure I'd bounce back like that if I bent 180.


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

Damn that's scary!
I carry mine on the ladder racks of my Navara the same way, but I only drive 1 km to the water very carefully. If I drive further I tie the bow down on the front roof rack as well.

Its good to see how strong they are, I have wondered If it fell off what damage will be done.

BTW... nice colour. :wink:


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## mattayogi (Feb 11, 2007)

Jimminy jeewillikers!!! :shock: :shock: :shock:

And I got a little upset when my wife let my son take my Hobie drink bottle to school.

Glad to see that you bounce back better than the yak. I'd be devo'd!

Still, a good impromptu experiment determining how tough these yaks are. A thump here and there and some gaffa tape and it's all roses.

Note to self: Take gaffa tape with you at all times.

Matt


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## Biggera Yakker (Jan 25, 2007)

I've taken mine a few times at 110km for at least half an hour or more and I've often wondered what would happen if.........the unthinkable happened - so bad I can't even write it!!!
I think you've done well to recover her to her present state!!!


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

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## DougOut (Dec 31, 2006)

can't believe there's no "terminal" damage
bloody amazing :shock: 
 glad to see she's still in one useable piece Scotty


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## Bart70 (Jan 28, 2007)

Lucky things worked out like they did.....

I had a similar experience on the Federal Highway along Lake George at 6.30 one morning - I had a poly touring kayak come off the roof of my Falcon at 110km/h.....

I saw the overhanging front launch vertically as the strap let go.....looked in the rear mirror to catch a glimpse of it in the air....

I managed to pull over about 1km up the road in a safe place.....walked back to find the yak faithfully waiting for me in the middle of the dual carriagway.

I sure must have looked a sight to the passing traffic as I walked down the middle of the dual carriageway, in front of a dry Lake George, with a kayak on my shoulder!

The yak came out of it with a minor graze mark on one end where is contacted the concrete pavement briefly...was VERY lucky that it was a quiet Sunday morning and there was no other traffic around me at the time......scary!

Bart70


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## JimH (Apr 10, 2007)

Front security!

The stink boaters gloat at their brothers who don't shackle the boat to winch post when retrieving and leave the smelly thing half way up the ramp but on the hard - even Stirlo has done it!

Jim H


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## hoit (Aug 29, 2005)

Holy Shit !!! To think I got pretty pissed when my Swing got some scratches on it.

At least the yak is (mostly) back in shape. Thanks for taking the time to share this one.

Regards
Grant


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

as others have said... you are a lucky bugger...glad the yak bent back into shape

btw do you work in mines in the bowen basin

ATB


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## ManjiMike (Jan 24, 2007)

Scotty Beefs - I guess I can 'fess up now   
My Dolfinn is generally got 2 bungees and ratchet strap across the centre on the ute canopy. 
Saturday b4 last went to Black Point (about 115*30'E 34*30') on the South Coast. The last 10-12km is a lumpy 4wd sand track and 'cos I had no passengers I took it a bit faster than maybe I should have :lol: 
When I got out at the car park, poor old Sotocean was sitting at 45* only held by one bungee. The ratchet strap had snapped!!
Luckily no damage at all - 2 ratchet straps and a bit slower on the way home
Cheers Mike


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## Daveyak (Oct 6, 2005)

Ouch!!! Both tough luck and good luck (it wasn't worse) Travis! Makes me appreciate how fortunate I've been with my Swing.

I carry my Swing like that on my ute ALL the time! I just went out to the shed and took a few pics. I strapped it on like that the first day I had it & since it works OK & I've been too slack to make a raised rear bar that how it's stayed & has travelled thousands of kms like that. I often travel at around 120kmh and the kayak has never moved.

I have the kayak strappped to the roof bar with a motorcycle tie-down. I have less than half a metre of the yak over the back of the (closed) tailgate & strapped down on a piece of foam mattress with another tie-down around the towbar. Only on my recent trip to Capel did I add a rope, as extra security, through the footwell scuppers (behind the front tie-down) that is tied at each end to loops in front corners of the tray.

It's not as steep as a yak tied to a tray-back ute so probably not the same force on the front of it.

I'm impressed with the recovery of the plastic hull shape. Tough stuff!


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Lucky escape for your Yak scotty beefs,

How old were the tie downs :?: , i have a theory that the straps rot reasonably easily and need to be replaced every couple of years.

When i ran my own business I carried timber and sheets of gyprock/ply on the roof every day and you learnt very quickly to tie things on properly. On longs trips i still use rope and truckies hitches, but round the corner trips just the tie downs.

Cheers Dave


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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

justcrusin32 said:


> Lucky escape for your Yak scotty beefs,
> 
> How old were the tie downs :?: , i have a theory that the straps rot reasonably easily and need to be replaced every couple of years.
> 
> ...


dave: have to agree, i used to used tiedowns but after having a couple let go and straps break i now only use ropes with truckies hitches and have never had a problem.

ATB Carl


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## beefs (Jan 30, 2006)

occy said:


> Gives me the shivers too. At least no one was around to see you do it. How embarrassing would it be for people to find out how stupid you were.


good one Occy - made me laugh  There was a bloke a couple of km's behind me and I had the yak pulled up and hidden behind the car and was nonchalantly looking into my esky or something similarly daft by the time he drove past  :lol:



Astro said:


> as others have said... you are a lucky bugger...glad the yak bent back into shape
> btw do you work in mines in the bowen basin
> ATB


Sure do - at Ensham at the moment.



justcrusin32 said:


> Lucky escape for your Yak scotty beefs,
> 
> How old were the tie downs :?: , i have a theory that the straps rot reasonably easily and need to be replaced every couple of years.


Not that old - and it didn't actually snap but rather pulled through the clinch piece...i'm assuming i've put it through the wrong way so the more the yak pulled against it the more it "unclinched" rather than pulling tighter as it's designed to do  The couple of times previously i've had it on the ute ive used two ratchet straps and two "security" pull down straps...just got lazy.


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## RedPhoenix (Jun 13, 2006)

Unfortunately, due to the change in ownership of this web site and the lack of response by the owners to my requests to remove my email address from all administrative-level notifications and functionality, I have decided to remove my posts on AKFF. Thank you for the great times, the fantastic learning experiences and the many many fish. If you are desperate for the old content of this particular post, it is available below base64 encoded and bzip2 compressed.

Red.

----

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## Astro (Nov 27, 2006)

Astro said:


> as others have said... you are a lucky bugger...glad the yak bent back into shape
> btw do you work in mines in the bowen basin
> ATB


Sure do - at Ensham at the moment.

well if you live in or around mackay and want to go for a fish let me know

used to know some people out at ensham....is ian still out there (maintenance Coordinator??)

ATB


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