Going kayaking with friends or family is such a great sport to learn and to enjoy. It’s loaded with lots of fun and laughter when you know how to transport your equipment and keep it safe on your float trip.
Kayaking 101: Safety In Transporting and Trailering
Some of the most important items are how to load your kayaks and keep them safe while you transport them. Kayaks can be quite expensive and you certainly don’t want to loose it on the road and destroy it. The manner in which you transport kayaks depends on the type of vehicle you have as to which type of set up you should use.
Pickup Truck Bed
The simplest manner to transport your kayak is to simply put it in the bed of a pickup truck. This works fine for shorter kayaks, but a longer version like a sea kayak may not fit. You may still be able to transport a longer kayak with a metal bed extender on your truck to add more length for your load. Remember to tie the kayaks into the bed with ropes or bungee cords.
Roof Transportation
If your kayaks don’t fit in a truck bed, or you don’t have a truck you can consider a roof rack. The least expensive type is an inflatable or foam block rack system that you tie down to. Another more secure option is a cross bar and tower system. The bars and towers system you choose is dependant on the vehicle that you are using to transport your gear.
Roof Rack Accessories
In many cases, your vehicle may already have roof rack cross bars that you can simply secure your kayaks to. If you have more than one kayak and other gear, you can use saddle cradles. J-cradles or kayak stackers as a roof rack accessory.
Kayak Trailers
Kayak trailers are specifically built to be small, lightweight and they can be towed by most any vehicle. You need a hitch on your tow vehicle and an electrical hookup for the taillights and brake lights. A 2-inch ball on your vehicle is the most standard size for kayak trailers. This method of transport has a lot of advantages over others. You can load it easier at waist level instead of having to lift your boats overhead. You also have extra room for all of your floating gear and kayak trailers can accommodate boats, bikes, cargo boxes and any other item that you can tie down.
Loading your Kayaks On a Roof Rack
It is possible for a person who is of an athletic build to load a kayak onto a roof rack on a vehicle by themselves. You flip your kayak right side up and with bent knees, grab the kayak near the seat and place it on your thighs. Keep your spine straight and lift with your legs, then use one thigh to boost your boat up onto your shoulder. Your arm should be secured in the seat area. Carry it to the towing vehicle and place one end on the rack or padding then lift the other end and slide it forward on the roof rack. Secure your kayak to the rack with tie downs.
Getting Your Kayak to The Water
If you are older or a small person, it may not be very easy to carry your kayak quite some distance by yourself to the water to launch it. A great solution to this is a kayak cart. You simply place the cart next to the kayak, place the stern on first, then the bow, check the balance and strap it in.
You can carry two kayaks with two people very easily. One person is in the center of the two kayaks at the front and one in the same position in the rear. Then grab the handles with one in each hand and both people walk forward in the direction they want to go to get to the water.
Keeping Your Kayak Trailer Safe
Face it, it would be totally heart breaking to have a great float trip and carry your kayak back to put it on your trailer—–and your trailer is gone with the wind—-stolen. UGH. Fortunately there are several methods you can use to outsmart those thieves.
- You can run a chain that is at least 1/2 inch diameter of wire through the vents of the wheel and around the trailer frame with a simple keyed padlock.
- You can use a wheel boot like law enforcement does with the best one for trailers being the kind that covers the wheel lugs.
- If possible use preventative parking with the trailer backed up tight against a tree, fence or a retaining wall if possible.
- Use a coupler lock that locks the trailer tongue to the vehicle.
- Remove one trailer wheel and the spare tire and put them inside your tow vehicle to deter them.
All of these methods work great because if they can find an easier target they will just simply move on to it instead of having to work at the theft.
Good luck on your float trip, stay safe and have fun!!
