kayak racks

One note on boarding kayaks from the boat: we found the most stable way is to tie the kayak (fore and aft) alongside the cockpit, sit on the coaming, and lower yourself into the kayak. We tie a line with a loop in it to the cockpit handrail and use that to support ourselves when going from the kayak to the boat.

We have done it that same way with an inflatable dinghy, and have also boarded and unboarded the dinghy while it was tied snug to the swimstep. We tried the kayaks from the swimstep - entry was fine, getting from the kayak to the boat was tougher.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
Foggy":gpfr5odl said:
To KISS, lash two (2) 2 x 4's athwartships to your cabin top pilothouse SS handrails, about 5' apart or so. Afix, with lashings, the kayaks fore and aft on the 2 x 4s. Done.

Aye.
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This may work on the Venture (I don't know), but it would need adjustment/additional parts to work on a 22 Cruiser. Reason is that a board laid on the handrails from side to side would actually be resting on the crown of the cabin top and not on the rails at all. Perhaps the Venture has a flatter roof or the rails are higher.

Of course risers can be made, so the idea can still work, but just not as simple as lashing two 2x4's across. OTOH, I have read that the ol' 1A towers from Yakima do work, and I've bought them economically from Craigslist (since most vehicles don't have gutters anymore, people are selling them (one can make ones own rails out of boards or anything else if not wanting to use the Yakima/round bars). I used to make kayak racks out of "1x" hardwood stock as they were more pleasing to my eye than the thicker 2x softwood.
 
Jake B":2cis30sa said:
so I have been looking throughout all the old post on rack options for getting a kayak up onto cabin.SNIP I am trying to KISS this project and not over do it or have a bunch of stuff to take off when not using kayaks. SNIP
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KISS? Really...

Nonetheless, a nice looking job.
Don't forget your Eskimo Roll.

Aye.
 
JaKE B. Wrote....
.like a foam yoga block? and just set kayak on those? then just strap to roof rack? if you have a picture of this I would like to see it.
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Check out the one and only photo in Lately . We also use a pool noodle to keep the kayaks off the roof. We thought of racks but this would limit us from placing our dingy up on the roof.
 
There are a number of vehicles with the Yakima "J" racks at the campground where we are staying. Looking at the various bases, It looks like it would be easy to adapt them to work on the SS hand rails of the C Dory, without the cross bar--If you had to have a cross bar, it probably is cheaper to get 2 SS tubes , and put two small bends in it, than to have a custom made racks welded up.
 
I have used a pair of yakima bars attached to the roof rails to carry kayaks and have been very pleased with it. Removable. Not too pricey. I also got a set of 4 inch raisers to help it clear my "rocket launcher" rod holders.
I will try and post a pic or two soon.
 
PvL":5xa0rq03 said:
We like simple as well. So for our kayaks which are 17ft and 14 ft, we use canoes straps and those foam blocks you can get from REI or Mountain Equipment Coop.

I was worried about wind but we have not had an issue. Mind you we do watch our weather.


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We used the same technique for our 17.5 kayak. Did the Loop with it on top with no problem. Now we carry two the same way. Keep it simple.
 
ray those racks looks sweet and should work great! after more talking this weekend, while we will get kayaks for when its just the wife and me the thought of loading kids into and out of kayaks sounded wet. and so we will start with a inflatable. see how much we use it and decide if we want a 2hp for it or not.
A 4 seater would be better but from all i have read about pvc I really wanted to stick to hyplon boat. west marine web site was down friday and we were gone all weekend digging razor clams so i was off line until today. I am going to check there boats out as well.

I like the 2x4 idea and that would be really simple. thanks for all the great info but once I saw i could cover up the radar inflatable came back into the picture.

my other buddy and boat owner said if it was him he would just strap it down going length wise across the top between radar and rod holders and as i am sure it would work I think it would get wired looks on the water.

also I have been taught although a few years now how to do the recovery roll I had a hard time at first but was able to get it. ( learned on a lake before going into the rivers) my wife however has not..
 
We have always just lashed the inflatable on the cabin roof--on the 22, 25 and Tom Cat. Use some 3/8" line between the hand railings to hold it in place--no foam, or rack under the boat.

The hypalon is definitely better, but we have gotten some excellent service from the PVC boats as long as you don't leave them sitting over inflated in the sun. We clean it and roll it up after each use. Store in the bag.
 
yeah and we will only be storing on roof top mainly when going to san juans or running around sequim dropping the anchor for the night. the rest of the time it will be stored in bag. and honestly will only be used 10-15 times a season...
 
well we have been kicking it around some and have decided first(and this summer) we will go with a inflatable dingy. after looking at a few of them recommended here I just cant see spending the same amount on a pvc when a hypalon is right there and known to be much better. thanks for the info thataway as at first i figured that we would never put power on it. but there is the chance down the road so I think we are going to go with an actual transom boat. and leaning towards the achilles ls2-ru. I just need to do a trial of lifting 57lbs onto and off the cabin roof but I don't think that will be an issue. thanks for all the input.

that said can anyone think of a better inflatable transom dingy in the $1200 ball park? that we may have overlooked?
 
Not sure how many people you need to carry but don't overlook the Kaboat line if you are shopping inflatables. They can be paddled like a kayak which is nice if you are familiar with kayaking. The weights are also managable and the 12ft model we owned was very well built. They come in more sizes now than at the time we owned one.

http://www.boatstogo.com/kayaks_sk396.asp

Greg
 
I actually got to see one of the 12 foot Kaboats recently (The percent of RVers with some sort of boat is very high at this camp ground in the keys; Lots of all types of Kayaks (form 21 foot Ocean, wood, 9' sit on tope etc) as well as inflatables. In looking at the Kaboat, the internal beam was less than I had anticipated. The owner did have two sets of oar locks, so it could be rowed--but he said it was like any inflatable and very subject to the wind. He also did not feel it was as stable as a standard inflatable. I also had been interested in one of these.

I don't think you will have any problem lifting the LS2RU onto the top. We each get on one side of the boat--one hand on the boat's railing, (we have the extra rails on the forward and aft sides of the cabin both port and stb. I bring the bow up by the painter, and Marie grabs the forward part of the line on the side of the inflatable, which allows me to let go of the painter, and then grab the other side line. We pull together, and up the boat comes over the side of the cabin top. Depending on the size of the boat, it can take a second pull, but the smaller ones work with one pull, and then some adjustment.
 
those kaboats are pretty cool looking. I had not seen them. The people we need to transport is what is making this such an involved discission. there will be a mix of just me and the wife on overnighters and then there will be times it will be us and our two children. end of this year the oldest will be 5 and the youngest 3. as we are purchasing a dingy for over 1k we are thinking of growth of the family. when the kids are along we will mainly need it for short trips to the shore. and as they get older something for them to mess around with too. but that said i don't want to go all the way with a 4 seater
1) weight
2) it will be over kill for the times its just me and the wife....

all that said i have a feeling we will end up with a dingy and 2 kayaks witch will suite each trip accordingly...
 
thataway, thanks again for all the input and messing around the boat last night i don't thinkg the weight will be an issue either..
 
thought I would follow this up. was sold on the achilles boat, although still shopping around until today. a few days back I saw how kennharriet dingy fit on the boat. and thought it would be the right one for us too. through pm found out it was the west marine RU3. was not all that sold on pvc but then it went on sale and after input about west marine boats from thataway and online reviews the pice won out. at 649$ it was half of the achilles boat cost. so it is on its way.

We still plan to get kayaks as well int the near future....

thanks for all the input...
 
Jake B":jb6hinzh said:
thought I would follow this up. was sold on the achilles boat, although still shopping around until today. a few days back I saw how kennharriet dingy fit on the boat. and thought it would be the right one for us too. through pm found out it was the west marine RU3. was not all that sold on pvc but then it went on sale and after input about west marine boats from thataway and online reviews the pice won out. at 649$ it was half of the achilles boat cost. so it is on its way.

We still plan to get kayaks as well int the near future....

thanks for all the input...
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We had the WM predecessor to the RU3, an RU260 (built by Zodiac) - it did a fine job and lasted over 10 years. This year, we replaced it with the current RU3 (built by Achilles). Although I had some issues with documentation from WM, the boat itself seems to be decent construction. It should a good job for you. The boat buyer from WM told me he thinks the RU3 is better made than the previous model.

If you don't leave it in the sun all the time, PVC is fine. If you are going to be in the tropics and have the boat out year 'round, I would definitely suggest the hypalon. We keep ours in the storage bag when not out cruising.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
We need to accommodate both kayaks and our Alaska Series dinghy at different times. We have cheap cross bars we used for the kayaks, they go on and off easily. But lashing kayaks on the cross bars was always dicey. We tried foam blocks but maybe had the wrong ones, not a satisfactory solution for us. I can't even get a lug nut off let alone fabricate my own J rack! What would be wrong with these inexpense J racks (under $20 a pair)?

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