LOADING KAYAK DILEMMA

gandk · Senior Member

LOADING KAYAK DILEMMA

macka17 · Guru

Aerodynamic.
YES. That's how they designed.

Easier to load\unload.
YES. Slide on. Slide off.

Fill with water
YES. Unless you fit a tie down cover.

You makes your choices and takes your consequences..................Chuckle.

Short haul.
Most carry right way up.
Long haul.
Most invert. It saves water retention and no need for carriers unless covered.

If several.
On sides is another possibility the club uses.(3 across)

I paddled Outriggers for yrs.
1 man. 2 man, and 6 man, (they the best.)

Nowadays. I make do with the Armchair. all 114kg of me.
But I have GREAT memories.

Bryan · Guru

I have owned various Hobies and Native Watercraft kayaks and my experience is limited to the two models only. According to the manufacturers they should be carried upside down, however Hobie did come out with a hull shaped cradle for the Adventure island which I mounted on a trailer to make loading / unloading easier.

Bushpie · Guru

Hope you havent got a jeep........

Stl · Senior Member

My Kayak has holes to let the water out. so much easier to load and unload right way up. A bit off the track,,I side load mine. use a length of reo bar sticking out of front roof rack ( took the end cap off) and a towel on roof. Lift front up on to reo on about a 60 degree angle to car then lift the back up. A lot easier than rear loading. ( Iron man for about $130.00 make a side loading attachment.) reo bar does the same job, easier, quicker, and less mucking around.

Cupie · Guru

All the manufacturer info that I have read say that SOTs should be carried upside down & not tied down too hard. I use front & rear restrainers too (I think that's a legal requirement).

From Viking Kayaks web site ..

Transporting your Kayak

Transporting a sit-on top kayak is very easy.

You basically place it onto your roof racks upside down and secure with a couple of tie-downs.

Normal roof rack bars are all that's required for one kayak but if you are looking at taking 2 kayaks regularly then it might pay to get wide roof rack bars (1500mm) so that they can lie side by side or you can use Fold-A-Poles whereby the kayaks lie on their sid

As explained previously I load both of mine over the bull bar with suitable protection on the duco. But scratches aren't a worry for me. If I had a new vehicle I would use a 'rock & roll' side loader or a home made device like StI's suggestion. (just carry a bit of dense foam or such like for the lower end protection when swiveling the raised end into position).If you choose to carry them right way up, the scupper holes should drain away most of any water but not so with SinKs which I believe go in a cradle the right way up with suitable covers over the '****pit'.

gandk · Senior Member

Hi all Thank you all as all comments (I think) have helped make the decision to load it upside down. It will sit over the car aerial but we shall get around that. Loading does not seem a problem. Even though I am (as my husband calls me) a hobbit we manage easily as the kayak only weighs 37kg. So all good and getting there. Only 17 days until we take off for 12months. Yippee

Kim

Cupie · Guru

gandk wrote:
Hi all Thank you all as all comments (I think) have helped make the decision to load it upside down. It will sit over the car aerial but we shall get around that. Loading does not seem a problem. Even though I am (as my husband calls me) a hobbit we manage easily as the kayak only weighs 37kg. So all good and getting there. Only 17 days until we take off for 12months. Yippee
Kim

37Kg? ..... Must be a double. Enjoy. Especially any inland waterways at dawn & dusk .. Hard to beat.

toglhot · Senior Member

I always carry them upside down because the plastic is thicker on the edges than the hull. Carry them on the hull and they will distort.

HunnyBunny · Senior Member

I have a sit in kayak! I always load it upside down onto my roof racks on my wagon. Be a bit more careful then I was though, I have scratched my car roof. :(

Cupie · Guru

HunnyBunny wrote:
I have a sit in kayak! I always load it upside down onto my roof racks on my wagon. Be a bit more careful then I was though, I have scratched my car roof. :(

Scratches .. "I've had a few". Doesn't worry me on the old Patrol though. I rub a bit of WD40 in them after washing the car. Makes them invisible for a while. None of the scratch/swirl removers ever worked. Perhaps they are too deep.

Ron-D · Guru

I carry my kayak upside down as well it's a double seat one so it's big,I have a extension piece that clips onto the front rack,for loading the boat ,onto the tug,makes loading an easy task...

Mike Harding · Guru

Just wondering... is it difficult to get back into a kayak after falling out? Especially if one is... shall we say... not as lithe as one was 20 years ago....

Bryan · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:
Just wondering... is it difficult to get back into a kayak after falling out? Especially if one is... shall we say... not as lithe as one was 20 years ago....

Depends on the kayak Mike but mostly yes. It is better to belly crawl on the yak from the back and then of course the fun starts when you try and get yourself seated from the lying down position. Its best to mates around so they can be entertained but make sure there are no phones to take pictures.

My last one was easy peasy. Notice on short trips I tied it on the right way up with everything set up but for longer trips, I stripped it down and carried it upside down. I used to carry it on the roof rack but found the little trailer easier.

Bryan · Guru

As I got lazier I fitted an electric motor as an option. (sorry for the hijack)

Cupie · Guru

Mike Harding wrote:
Just wondering... is it difficult to get back into a kayak after falling out? Especially if one is... shall we say... not as lithe as one was 20 years ago....

Falling out? how do you do that?

Seriously though ..... SOTs are rather easy but SinKs are another matter. Search the net for SinK techniques. There are many standard techniques like The Eskimo Roll ... all of which look pretty scary to me.

I've only fallen off once in 10 years when I was racing my son in a new tippy SOT kayak ... poor technique & getting caught out by an unexpected wave. Fortunately I was close to shore & just pushed the bloody thing into shallow water.

I think the technique for SOTs is to approach from the front L & reach the RH over to the far side of the middle of the yak facing slightly towards the rear and swim on belly down by kicking your feet and rolling over onto your back with your face towards the front. (Clear !!!) Then swing your legs in.

Mike Harding · Guru

>Falling out? how do you do that?

Believe you me mate I wouldn't have *ANY* trouble at all! :)

Thanks for the replies guys.

I'm tempted to buy a small one however, as I type, I'm looking at a Coleman inflatable boat still in the box in which it was given to me ten years ago. Maybe I should have a play with that first.