I am thinking about aquiring a 19 foot seda glider but my current rack/saddles only have a 36 inch spread. Am I really going to damage the kayak if I don’t have a long rack (goodboy, llama, kayakpro) for a few hundred mile drive? I would be using at least a bow tie down on both sides of hood and would be buying the new rack later.
I see that the seda glider comes in different materials, and which one you’re transporting is going to make a big difference. Polyethylene is the most rugged construction.
As an engineer, I think the biggest factor will be your speed. Drive 30mph and you will have no problem whatsoever…
I know this isn’t the same thing, but just for reference, these kayaks are 15’ and I drove 2-1/2 hours with my speed held to 65mph, and I had no problems whatsoever. The real retention is the boat to the roof racks. The guy lines front and rear are there in case they start to shift, and then you need to pull over and fix the problem before continuing on. I tied them slightly to the rear of the car to reduce side load and to get the bow line to angle back, so it could help keep the bow from lifting. The end lines have very little tension on them so they won’t bend the boat.
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The boat will do just fine. The critical issue is making sure that the rack is firmly attached to the vehicle. There will be quite a bit on strain on it. Be sure to use bow and stern tiedowns in addition the the straps around the boat. If you have roof rails secure both the boat and rack to them. If not and the attachment for the rack to the car is questionable, for an option you can run a long strap around the boat and rack and through the doors. Not the windows!
Cam buckle straps are fine as is non-stretchable rope if you are good with knots. Avoid ratchet straps with a kayak. It’s easy to overtighten them damaging the boat.
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I would not try it with newer Epic or Stellar kayaks with their “honeycomb” makeup, but the older built like a tank kayaks would seem okay with all of your suggestions covered.
I need to go ahead and get a long boat rack but this kayak came up and I don’t have time to get the rack first.
If use use no rack
Use 2, independent bow/stern lines (4 total). An independent left/right line will greatly reduce sideways movement potential. Don’t make the bowstern lines too tight.
When I bought my first surfskiI made a ghetto rack out of an old extention ladder section about 12’ long.
In this case, I securely strapped the ladder to the rack, then my boat on top of the ladder, with plenty of foam padding in between.
You could also do something similar with a 2x10 or other large board.
Personally I wouldn’t like to drive 500mi with only 36" spacing. Passing semis, cross winds, and high speed all make some sort of end support and longer span well recommended.
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The ladder and 2x10 are really cool ideas. I wish I’d thought of that!
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I just came across another V rack, the washrider Y rack.
Keep in mind that the boat material reacts differently. Plastic boats will soften and deform in the hot sun - that will cause lines to go slack. Rigid material is more brittle and liable to crack, especially if shicked by bumps. You can make custom cradles that fit your cross bars and support a greater surface area of the boat. Seek a source of bending ply that you can conform directly to the hull, then line it with high density foam. Stabilize the cross bars by bridging the two cradles with stringers and bond it all together with epoxy coated mesh, then varnish it. If the boat is suitably locked in, less tension will be required to keep it stable on the fore and aft tie downs.
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Just a question? What about an inexpensive trailer. That’s what I use for my longer kayak.
Whateveryou choose to do good luck.
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Trailer us a good idea, but dependingbon wherebyou live, it could get expensive. Cost of license tags, many tolls charge by the axle, trailer parking high require launch or parking fees ss comoared to cartop. If that is not an issue, it’s a good option, or l just deal with the fee and parling.
As @Jyak mentioned, a trailer is a great way to simplify loading, unloading, and transport. However, you need a trailer hitch with electrical setup. In addition there are issues with registration and licensing, trailer storage, higher tolls, insurance, difficulty with parking and backing, and trailer maintenance.
In Maryland, with the exception of Queen Anne’s County where all vehicles require an annual or day permit, every other country requires a fairly expensive county specific annual permit with a trailer, while there is no fee to park and launch a cartop boat. Other localities may have similar policies.
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A 36-inch spread may not provide adequate support for a 19-foot kayak, potentially leading to bow or stern stress during a long drive. While bow tie-downs will help secure the kayak, it’s still not ideal for long-distance travel. The kayak may experience more flex or movement, increasing the risk of damage. Investing in a longer rack (e.g., Goodboy, Llama, or KayakPro) would ensure better stability and protection.
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I may have missed seeing it - if it were already mentioned here, but:
Think of most structural members in a house, that lie in a horizontal plane (floor joists, for example [versus wall studs]). The joists are oriented such that their greater cross-sectional dimension (the 10” dimension of a 2”x10” joist”) is supporting the load. A member in this orientation is much more resistant to bending than it would be if the 2” dimension were supporting the load. Point being that if your setup allows the boat to be transported with the cockpit cover (for example) being parallel with a car door - versus facing up towards the sky - the boat will be better able to resist the vertical loads placed on it - particularly by the long overhung sections when driving over bumps, dips, etc.
If I seem a bit over-detailed in the description- it’s just for the sake of clarity.
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Well, what’s the word? Did you buy it, how did you carry it, how did it turn out, and most importantly, if you bought it, how much time have you spent sitting in it dreaming of the great paddles to come?
Bought it. Used my existing saddles (no long rack) with double bow tiedown and single stern tiedown. It worked fine with a huge overhang in the rear. It’ll work with overbuilt tougher composites, but I would be less willing with latest epic, stellar, etc kayaks/skis over about 16 ft, maybe less.
Did you get a picture to put in Boats on Cars?
YOu will have 8 feet of over hang. Add a rack to your trailer hitch.
Making a simple wood ladder rack may be the easiest and best option. Use two 8 foot 2X4s and connect them at the ends and 1-2 rungs in the middle with edge-wise 2x6. It makes a “Ladder” that’s now 8 feet long but still pretty light weight. Drill 1/2 holes through the side of the frames so you can tie it down to the roof rack. The cross rungs can be shaped into shallow Us of Vs to perfectly contour to the shape of the kayak’s hull. For a single kayak the whole thing need only be about 20" wide. So it takes only about 2 minutes to tie on the roof rack and then about 2 more minutes to tie the kayak to the rack. Remove the rack when you don’t need it and if you’d like, you can even use it as a storage rack too. But having 8 feet long (or even 10 feet) of support at 4 points of the hull is far stronger then only 3 feet. You can attach the rack using ratchet straps or truckers knots to the roof rack, and it’s very strong and can be made for a super solid fit to the ladder rack itself to the car. If you have no tools or wood skills such an easy project is very fast for any carpenter. I have made several for friends of mine and from the time I start to the time it’s done is usually 30 minutes to 45 minutes. It fast, easy and inexpensive. Paint it with exterior house paint and it will weather well and last a long time.
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I have one of these, and its also available with three steps. It’s stable, light, cheap, stores easily behind a truck seat or in a crew cab.
It serves most of my needs around the house. I diont use itvfor the kayak rack in the truck, because my truck bumper has an intermediate step, so I cam haul myself up into the bed and play the limbo under the ladder racks.
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