When I had my civic I was trying to do what Iceman is talking about but I never got around to it. The easiest way that I found was to:
- lay the kayak next to the car
- grab the kayak from the stern and flip the kayak over(bottom side up)
- place a towel, matt, etc under the bow
- once it was upside down I would walk under the kayak (from the stern) until it was almost vertical
- with the kayak vertical I would place both hands(opposite sides of the kayak) right where I could balance the kayak on my head
- once I had the kayak balanced I would place the bow on the front rack and slide the stern onto the rear rack.
It sounds silly but this was the best and easiest way for me to load the kayak without having to rest it on the rear of the car. One other suggestion that I can give is that whenever you go out always leave your straps on your drivers side floorboard. Once you're done fishing and load your kayak if you ever get sidetracked and forget to strap your kayak you'll realize it as soon as you get ready to drive away.