Log In | Register
Skip to main content
Topic: Getting Kayaks on and off the roof (Read 1 time) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Getting Kayaks on and off the roof
Yahoo Message Number: 118079
The picture of Larry Wade's 2 kayaks on the rood of his LD reminded me of my issues with getting kayaks on and off the roof, especially when I am alone.
We traveled with 2 12 foot Eddyline kayaks this summer, but found that getting them up and down proved to be a monumental task. The weight is only 40-50 pounds, but they are bulky things.   I poured through cute "gantry" ideas on paper, but none of them seemed to be a good potential solution.
Any elegant solutions?

Ed
 
Re: Getting Kayaks on and off the roof
Reply #2 –
Yahoo Message Number: 118099
"Any elegant solutions?"

Ed
 Before we bought our first LD, we carried our 16' and 17'sea kayaks on our Chevy camper van. It was low enough to lift the bow of the boats onto the roller-rack, at rear of the roof, and then push them up onto the racks.
We wanted an LD but could not figure our how to easily get the boats and gear on top. I used a lot of scratch paper trying to dream up a solution. One day, at Marina Del Rey, we were paddling past some big yachts. On aft end of one of the the yachts, I noticed a small tender hanging on a davit. What caught my eye was that the davit was mounted on rollers. The rollers allowed the tender to be stored on deck and, when needed, it could be lifted and rolled to the rear and then lowered into the water, using an electric winch.
I instantly knew what to do.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwade/sets/72157602095130624/>
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwade/sets/72157602095130748/>
 The racks and crane arms and frames are made from Unistrut, available at most home centers. The winches are modified 1000-lbs boat trailer winches. The slides are lined with UHMW plastic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene> The side plates are 1/8" aluminum.
 It's a big job to build one but it allows single handed raising and lowering of big kayaks without have to lean over the roof's edge or to do any heavy lifting. The kayaks can drop down directly on their folding-carts. Once raised, the boats sits on fitted, carpet-lined cradles.
I have glued strips of 3M Safety walk tape over the roof joists, the stronger places to step. The safety walk tape provides secure footing, even when your feet are wet.
The kayak racks and cranes are now 15 years old and other than occasional cleaning and lubing of the track and winches, little maintenance is needed.
We will be using them in a couple of weeks for our annual 'Thanksgiving at the beach week'.

Happy paddling

Larry
2001 MB
* Not to be confused with Larry W (3000 of my posts are actually from expert Larry W due to Yahoo transition mis-step)