OK, with the exception of our living room, nowhere under roof will accommodate a 21-1/2 foot kayak (oh, the 21x24 garage but we already have three cars stuffied in there). I’d like to come up with something that offers some degree of protection and security.
I was thinking outside the box – you know that 4" black corrugated plastic pipe folks use for water drainage from their downspounts? Well, I knew it came in larger sizes – much larger. Looking around the internet, I found a manufacturer not much more than 100 miles away that would sell me less than truckload quantities. So, in a 30" diameter, a 23 foot length and two end-caps is… $1200! ouch! I’m not saying the boat’s not worth it but for that I could possibly build a premanent structure (I just don’t want to).
Are there other options?
Get
some dimension lumber and tin roofing sheets.
Maybe under your house?
I store a 20' rowing shell under my house during the winter. I even mounted a boat trailer roller just inside the access hatch so I can set the boat on it and roll it up under there. Fortunately I don't have any obstructions like sewer pipes and HVAC ducts where the access hatch is.
Garage ceiling…
My kayak is only 12’, but I don’t see why you couldn’t rotate the pulley system to hoist you kayak lengthwise across the garage.
http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv318/timothy585/kayak/IMG_3286_zpsd04f3f5d.jpg
http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv318/timothy585/kayak/IMG_3281_1_zpsdec2db1c.jpg
http://i695.photobucket.com/albums/vv318/timothy585/kayak/IMG_3294_zpsff048c0c.jpg
Garage ceiling?
I know they make strap storage systems for the roof of the garage, maybe you could put them above the cars?
I live in a townhouse and we have no choice but to store the kayaks on the patio. We built a really crude storage rack against our wooden patio fence with 2x4’s. It’s goal posts with struts running the length and width to hold the boats. Right now a tarp hung a few inches above the yaks keeps the sun off them and I hope still allows ventilation, but the tarp has been a constant problem and I think we would be better off with a piece of plywood or sheet metal hung at an angle.
Ditto on the garage ceiling
I've never seen a garage with such a low ceiling that there wasn't room for boats to be hung above where the cars park. Maybe if you have a full-size van this could be a problem, but otherwise it should be do-able. My garage has five boats hung above the parking spots of two cars (one car is an old 4x4 Suburban and there's room for a full-size canoe above it, even though my ceiling is not any higher than average). Four of those boats are each raised and lowered by a hand crank on the wall, while the fifth boat is aluminum and simply hangs by end hooks, so I just lift one end at at time by hand.
I wish I had photos of my normal boat-hoist system. I do have photos of a variant of that system that I built for a friend.
http://tinyurl.com/oobna4x
For kayaks, the only thing you'd change is the method for supporting the boat. A pair of fabric slings would be the preferred method.
Note that the boat can overlap the raised garage door if need be, since the support locations will be several feet away from each end.
In your case, if the long dimension of the garage is the width, you may need to position the boat diagonally.
My own garage is not finished with drywall, and I prefer to mount the lifting pulleys to cross beams installed between the rafters at roof level. The system in the photos shows what to do if you have a finished ceiling. I recently built a second canoe hoist for that same garage which is a lot more similar to my usual style, but I have no photos of it.
Thanks for the input…
…I’ll elaborate on my scenario.
(A) Building from wood: OK, I have an air nailer and know how to use it. Was avoiding that, and was thinking the plastic-pipe solution would allow repositioning it if needed. Shoot, it occurs to me that I could then justify a second trailer for the kayak, plastic tube on top, for use both as storage and transportation without extra space in the yard taken up.
(B) Under the house: we have a basement but access is via a stairwell in center of house, getting the kayak threaded through the kitchen window and the kitchen itself to the basement door I’d rather not do on a regular basis! And a kayak hanging in the rec-room would give it a T.G.I.Friday’s, feel, eh?
© Garage: What I didn’t mention was that the 24’w x 21’d x 9.5’h garage has three cars in it already, one on a lift (plus bicycles and other stuff). Pretty crowded in there and I did look into a transverse placement between the lift and the wall furnace, not a happy place and it would block the access door to the attic.
CMP?
(corrugated metal pipe)
Might actually be cheaper and it’ll be just as attractive(this is where I don’t get the TGI fridays comment). You might find it in salvage yards if you’re in a populated area.
On second thought - it’d be pretty slick to have a piece of pipe buried at an acute angle, so you could just slide the kayak into it and out of sight!
Car outside
Like you, I have a 3 car garage. My choice was easy. Truck outside, rack & kayaks inside. Priorities.
Real Kayakers have no car garage.
Ha!
$20,000 investment left outside in the elements and $1,000 investment taking up half a garage. Sounds like you’ve really got your priorities straight…LOL. Now, if your kayaks are worth more than your truck, well you got me there. 
Thanks for even more input.
CMP: Never thought of that and a search reveals a dealer in-state, much closer and they sell both metal and plastic pipe. I’ll check into that, thanks! Acute angle? How acute, one co-worker suggests vertical like a missile silo.
Priorities: Yeah, it sounds like the garages where some guy keeps his lawn mower in the garage and leaves the car outside – what’s up with that, as they say? Except that the cars are, ahem, a priority in themselves and the garage was expressly built to house one of them. The two roadsters stay inside; and if I pull out the wife’s car, there’s more room but I’ll need a divorce lawyer!
Alternative materials: While talking about pipe, it occurred to me that I could glue-up a framework from 3" or 4" plastic plumbing pipe(or sweat some copper pipe)then sheath it in something, like plastic tarp material or sheet metal. Over 100’ in pipe plus connectors might be pricey, however and a “tarp covering” is not exactly secure.
Furry Critters
Lots of little furry creatures like making homes in dark, dank spots like unused pipes and such. In my area, this would be a haven for Black Widow spiders too. A few 2x4s and a tarp or thin plywood roof to cover them would let them breathe and dry out better.
tiger…
You mentioned $1200 for 30" x 23’ with endcaps. Well, it can be cheaper if you’re willing to maybe fabricate your own endcaps or something along those lines.
Here’s a link to a 24" x 20’ corrugated outside, smooth inside for $450. I know it’s a little short, but I bet if you looked around some more you could probably find a dealer who sells this and might have a 2’ scrap lying around he would sell you for cheap. And you could fabricate your own endcaps…
$500 bucks is alot easier to swallow than $1200.
I know your in the DC area, but someone around there should have something comparable.
http://shop.mccoys.com/farm-ranch-yard/culverts/polyethylene-culverts-and-accessories/p.3963?recent=1
You can get a silver sided large tarp
for less than $50 bucks.
Just get one long enough and then wrap the boat in it.
Jack L
it would be tough either way
Vertical, think of digging a hole that deep by that wide. It might cost a bit by itself.
OTOH an acute angle means the opening would be an ellipse, which means you'd need a longer stick of pipe. I think CMP comes in 10' or 20' lengths. But if buried at an acute angle, or like a road culvert, you'd only have a shallow excavation.
The next task is figuring out a way to drain it. A cover for the boat should keep it clean and free of bugs.
Personally I might put them in the garage during paddling season, and store them offsite during winter in a storage facility (or hang them inside). A car may be a greater investment but you can insure it and it's made to last in the elements. Not every car buyer has a garage.
Another option I thought of is these tent garages, they make them for motorcycles now as well as cars. But you'd need a pretty long skinny one.
EDIT: I like Jackl's idea better; just get one with grommets, and that way you can get a pair of end poles and make a cheap tent/tarp for the kayak.
Sonotube
Sonotube concrete forms?
24" diameter is about $24 per foot. Not cheap.
But kayaks are tapered, so you don't need the full diameter for the full length.
Price per foot comes down nicely as the diameter decreases.
http://www.discountcontractorsupply.com/category_s/150.htm
Build a tapered chamber with plywood bulkheads at the diameter transitions.
You would probably need to coat inside and out with something to get the water resistance where you would want it to be. Epoxy garage floor paint maybe?
Or the tapered concept might bring the plastic pipe price down to a tolerable point.
link
timothy585, that link of yours leads me to a distributor five miles from my office if I select by zip code, thanks! Alas, 24" won’t work, my boat feel narrow to this neophyte but it’s over 25" across the beam, but it will be worth talking to them. The quest continues!
What about a port?
A simple kayak port (as opposed to carport) attached to the side, or back of the garage, or house, constructed with a few 4x4" posts, some 2x6" lumber and corrugated fiberglass roofing shouldn’t cost too much. It could even be a stand-alone in a corner of your back yard.
PVC pipe tube
I have often thought about buying and using the large 2’ or 3’ dia culvert pipe, but never looked into it seriously.
I built a 3 x 3 x 20 tube using 1" pvc pipe and wrapped that with a tarp. Works great.