by Natalie Weist

I had a weird problem with the Thule racks on my minivan while returning from a trip to Florida in December.

You may recall we had some terrific high winds at that time in late December. Sitting on those racks was my faithful green canoe; and IH10 was our route. Those winds came very strongly from the south, and with the canoe tied on the roof, it provided a big target for those high winds. I started hearing the racks making a lot more noise than usual; arrived home late at night and was amazed the next morning when I started taking the canoe down.

The photos show the front rack, and the back rack.

As you can see, the bar slid as far across as it could – perhaps if the canoe hadn’t been tied off center so the ties were outside of the supports, the bars may have come completely out of the brackets. Thank goodness for end ties – I consider this another good reason to put those endlines on and not use the crossties alone.

Happy travels!

Natalie Wiest
HCC Paddler