Welcome to the family of misfits!
I secure my sixteen foot tandem on my rack with OMTC cam straps and they hold it rock solid. Not sure if they're the same style you have, but they have the guys' logo on them so I'm betting they are. I bet the ones you have are adequate, but if you're not comfy with them you can get some NRS cam straps and use those. For bow and stern lines you just need rope that doesn't stretch. You probably have something around the hacienda that would do the trick. Steve's method is the one I use, although I just tied a loop into the end of mine so I could run the tag end through the tow hook then through the loop, but that's 'cause I'm lazy and don't use the lines for anything else. For my painters I bought two fourteen (I think) foot sections of fat blue and white rope from the big orange supply house. I forget how much it cost, but it was slightly more or less than a six pack of good beer.
I like it because it's visible, easy to grab, floats, is purty, and makes my boat look kinda like Arthur Bowie's.
I burned the ends and tied one to a grab loop with a figure eight. For transport I just tie them to the thwart with a couple half hitches to keep them out of the way. Works like a charm.
You come too.
Robert Frost
