First I want to thank all the responders in the last two months. We picked up a new 145T last night from the dealer. It was OK to load when the dealer helped me. I used my Thule canoe saddles and loaded the 145T upside down on my Trailblazer… two bellie straps and bow/stean straps. The problem was getting it off the rack when I got home. From all of the help on this site, I am thinking of buying the Rollerloader ($139) to load it from the back, and using pool noodles or pipe insulation on the Thule crossbars. I will use cable ties to secure the noodles to the xbars, and tie evrything down. Instead of loading it upside down, I will load it rightside up. Is this safe? Will I also need a cockpit cover to keep out bugs and rain? I have looked at all posts in last 12 months…many helpful suggestions. Please post your set-up here, so we can have all posts in one place. Also, I have set up a pulley system to store it in my garage. Thanks to the advice and pictures that everyone posted. I am looking for low cost and easy to load. Please help…Thanks in advance to all who respond. G–in Milwaukee
Ugly, but effective
I also faced the problem of trying to load a Pamlico 145T by myself. I found that gripping each side of the cockpit was awkward. I could lift the boat well enough, but positioning it on my roof rack was tricky. I have a light pickup truck, and the boat kept wanting to roll off the rack and onto me. (I use two Yakima bars with stackers.) With all of my other boats, I grasp the front and back of the cockpit and just clean and jerk them onto the truck. With the 145T, the cockpit is too long to hold this way.
My solution was to buy some padded chain, two quick links, and a bolt cutter that would cut the chain. I cut two lengths that would go around the boat at the cockpit and fastened them together with the quick lengths. I can then put them on the center of the kayak about shoulder width apart. I can then grab them and clean and jerk the kayak as I’ve always done. The boat will wiggle a bit, and the motion makes holding it harder. However, the motion isn’t bad enough to keep me from being able to make the lift. Obviously, I have to remove the chains when I’m paddling.
tie down straps
Sounds good I wonder if it would also work with tie down starpa.
For our 135T
I load the yak with cockpit up for short trips and upside down for longer ones. I use the Yakima roof extender (I forgot the true name) but it slides into the tower system and extends approx. 1.5 feet past the side of the car. I then put the bow or the stern on the bar, go to the opposite end, and slide the yak on the roof. Getting it down using the reverse procedure is also easy and I am only 150 lbs.
I guess it helps
to be 6’1" and 230 lbs. I can lift my 15.5 WS Yak on the rack on my Yukon either over the side or pushing it up from the back. Pushing it up from the back is probably the best method for avoiding back & shoulder injury. Getting it in place upside down is really no different than portaging a canoe- balance the boat overhead with your head in the cockpit and hands gripping the combing. Be careful in the wind!!
Because the boat is plastic and has a notable keel, I have found that mounting it with the deck down prevents unwanted stress on the hull. Strapping the keel down on a bar, padded or not, will cause oil-canning. Even with saddles, the hull of the boat will eventually dent or oil-can when strapped hull-down. (Don’t ask me how I know) These boats are best mounted on their side, using a kayak stacker or hullraiser style mount. This works great on my Altima, but is pretty hard to lift up/tie down on a tall vehicle, thus the reason I use rollers & saddles on the Yukon.
If you must go hull-down, I would make a set of foam blocks that are custom-contoured to match the hull and fit around the bars. The pre-made ones that I have found do not fit well to the hull and are too thin between the bars and keel. The other problem is that they tend to roll forward on the bar when the yak is pushed on. Ideally, mini-cell blocks 12"x12"x3’ would be a great starting size to contour to fit, as they would provide an ultimate amount of support under the hull, leaving the bars underneath as nothing more than a tie-down point.
Thule Rollercoaster
is what I use to get my boat on my Chevy Tracker.