We recently cartopped our 17′ Grumman canoe 900 miles and tried out Seattle Sports Sherpak Quick Loops to secure its bow and stern. The straps took only seconds to install and provided the essential tie-down points for the long highway drive.
Skipper’s family has a history of cartopping canoes and we know it is just as important to secure the bow and the stern as it is to secure the middle of the boat to the roof racks, especially on longer vessels like the Grumman. The lines to the ends help prevent the bow from swinging sideways in the apparent wind generated at highway speeds and keep boats from sliding fore and aft during sudden starts and stops. On old cars, it can be easy to find places to attach bow and stern tie-downs, but many new cars may not have anchor points because of aerodynamic cladding of the underbody and hood-gap streamlining. Older cars were also built with rain gutters, which provided a positive attachment for a roof rack. Racks clipped on new cars don’t have a grip that is as secure, and while the straps across the middle of the boat will hold it to the racks, only the bow and stern lines can help hold the racks on the car.
Photographs by the authorsThe rubber hose fixed to the end of this Quick Loop has been set just inside the engine compartment and will get trapped when the hood is closed and latched.
Each Sherpak Quick Loop consists of a flexible rubber anchor and an 8-1/2″ loop of 1″ nylon webbing and can be installed in seconds. With the hood, door, hatch, or trunk open, the anchor is placed inside the perimeter and the strap extends out from it. The flexibility of the anchor ensures a snug fit inside; a quick pull on the web loop ensures that the enclosed anchor is fully seated. For our canoe we use four loops, one on either side of the hood and one on either side of our car’s hatch.
The webbing is thin enough to fit the seams between the vehicle body and its hood, door, hatch, or trunk and won’t mar the paint finish. Even if a car has underbody tie-down points, they limit the options for locating tie-downs. There is a wider variety of locations for the Quick Loops and they can be placed to keep tie-downs from rubbing on the paint. I save time by not having to pad the tie-down line and I really, really like not having to crawl under the car to find anchor points, which can be uncomfortably close to a hot engine and exhaust pipe.
Even if this car had built-in tie-down points under the bumper, the Sherpack Quick Loops put the lines at an angle that is much more effective at keeping the canoe from shifting laterally.
We bought two pairs of Quick Loops so we could have supplemental side to side lines both fore and aft. Our canoe, SCOUT, recently traveled in secure comfort to her new Middle Atlantic homeport thanks to this uncomplicated piece of gear, and the loops have her highest recommendation.
Audrey (Skipper) and Kent Lewis are hosts to an Armada of small boats and look forward to exploring the Tidewater region of Southeastern Virginia, their new home.
The Sherpak Quick Loops are sold in pairs directly by Seattle Sports and through Amazon for $14.95.
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Those are pretty neat. Neater than what I have done using holes of convenience in the sheet metal running across the car at the front of the engine compartment. I’ve tied big figure-8 stoppers in, doubled up webbing, then tucked the loop through a hole. They live in the engine compartment under the lip of the hood. Same principle, but uglier. For the stern, I use the trailer hitch if available or line loops cow-hitched to internal tie-down rings and led out.
These are really handy. They also make Sherpak Hood Loops, a version that screws into a hole (a “quarter-panel bolt”) in the frame around the engine compartment. I like those because then the front of the canoe, which bears the biggest brunt, isn’t secured just by the hood latch. The downside is the straps stay inside the engine bay all the time, so you need to make sure they are away from moving parts, and I suspect they won’t last as long as Quick Loops stored in the garage.
It looks to me that the webbing straps on the outside of the vehicle would rub against the paint work on the side of the bonnet where they exit.
We’ve had no problems with rubbing. And anything tied under the car, even if you could find a tie-down point, would definitely rub the paint on bumpers and fenders.
On my 2013 Honda Fit there were tie-down bolts under the hood so I could permanently fasten a Thule tie-down strap that was usually safely away from moving parts in the engine compartment and then pulled out with my pack canoe on the top of the car.
My 2021 Mazda CX-30 looks completely different under the hood with no place to fasten the old straps so I got a pair of the Sherpa Quick Loops and they work fine. The first time I used them, however, one fell into the engine compartment when I opened the hood after removing the boat and it was difficult to extract. Just be careful to pull them out as far as possible before opening the hood.
People whose car choices are dictated by their boat choices are friends of mine.