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| Kayak storage and transport on a shoestring | | Print | |
| Sunday, 13 July 2008 | ||||
Carport storage and home-made roofrack 'extenda-bar' modification Carport kayak loading system My shoulder has really been giving me curry lately, so the matter of lifting the kayak onto the racks of my car was becoming a concern. Moving into a new house was a good opportunity to go about addressing at least half of the problem whilst also solving the issue of storage as well. I've seen a few clever carport kayak storage systems that allow for a simple pulley driven action to lift the kayak from the racks of your car and up to the roof of your carport. The benefit of such a system is obvious. When heading out on a trip, getting the kayak into place onto the racks is a simple matter of gently releasing the rope from the cleat and then strapping it down. Upon returning from a trip storing the kayak is a simple matter of reversing the process.  'Extenda-bar' roof rack loading system So that has sorted out loading and unloading the kayak at home... but what about at waters edge? To date, I've been using a sort of sideways clean and jerk technique to load the kayak onto the roof racks, which is exactly what one shouldn't be doing - especially with a crook shoulder. Being that I've got the Thule aero-bars, there's not many products that exist to make loading a kayak easier for them. It's pretty easy to rig something up to do the same job (that would work with any roof rack bar) though, which is what I've done. This simple rig incorporates a handfull of heav-duty cable ties and 2 galvanised extendable tent poles, one being a ridge pole with eyelets at each end, the other with a flat spike on one end and a plastic end cap at the other. In the closed postion both poles are about 4 1/2', which is about an inch longer than my roof rack bars (about ideal).  Ridge bar extends to desired length The first step in making this rig is really the only step. Its simply a matter of using cable ties to secure the ridge pole neatly behind the front bar. I used 12 tightly bound ties for my rig, which seems to be rock solid. Once the ridge pole is attached the rig is ready for use. The use of the other pole is pretty self-explainatory. When the extending piece is pulled out on the ridge pole, the spiked pole is used to support it and hold it's height position. Fitting it is simply a matter of extending the spike pole into place so that the spike is neatly through the eyelet, and the other end firmly planted on the ground. This should support the extended bar nicely by keeping it steady and preventing the weight of the kayak bending the extended bar.  Support pole erected, ready for use Once erected, loading the kayak is simply a matter of lifting the bow up over the bar, then walking to the stern and lifting it up over the rear bar. Once both are positioned at roofrack height, it's just a matter of sliding, or shuffling it on. There's a few ways one could go about building a pulley-operated kayak carport loading system and although I'd seen a few other systems in the past, I figured I'd fall back on the experience of one of my work mates (thanks Mick) who is very experienced with sail rigging. He arrived at my place with a few lengths of rope, a handfull of pulleys, a rope cleat and a drill. We took a look at the carport, looked at the bits and pieces, agreed on a plan and got to work. It was all over in about 10 minutes. Here's how we did it:  Pulley-operated for ease of use  Single rope runs from overhead and swivel pulleys to centralley mounted cleat Mick had a few ideas on how to rig this up, but in the end decided on a single rope system for the pulley operation. We installed this by feeding the rope through the centre eye on the cleat and then passing each end through opposite swvel blocks, back to the pulley blocks attached to the centre carport beam and down towards the car roof. Mick fashioned two slings out of thick, soft rope and then attached them to each end of the main line. The only main consideration of doing it this way is that you need to get the length of the main line so that each sling can be easily passed over the bow and sterns of the kayak.  Single rope fed through eyelet on cleat Operation couldn't be simpler. To raise one end from cartop roof, its just a metter of gripping the rope on one side of the cleat and pulling downward until one end of the kayak is lifted into position, and then cleating it off. Repeat the process on the other side of the cleat to raise the other end of the kayak. To lower, simply make sure car is positioned so that roof racks are directly below kayak, and then carefully release rope from cleat and lower gently. Too easy.  Rope pulled taught at both sides and cleated off. So my days of lifting kayaks onto roof racks the hard way are over, which is music to my shoulders. Since building the roof rack extending support bar rig, I've been shown a brand new product designed to do exactly the same thing, with various models available covering a wide range of roof rack styles. I'll be having a closer look at that in the coming weeks, and as always will relay my thoughts here when I do.  I use a large cable fed over roof support beam and mirage drive well    
13-07-2008 18:52 looks good, would like to see what other products you come up with cheers Only registered users can write comments. Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6 |
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