Just curious. Is it even possible to take along a normal sized sea kayak?
I have seen multiple full-sized sea kayaks carried on the roof, on cradles. A bit of a PIA to load/unload, but it can be done. This is how Freya Hoffmeister travels (or used to) when she visits Anglesey.
That does sound like a royal PIA! I honestly don’t know much about RV’s although I want to learn more as I am getting closer to retirement every year. I was hoping that some had one of those bus type luggage compartments on the bottom side that could be used to store long objects.
Put them on the car you will be towing.
Yep, String has it. If you’re looking at an A class or a large C class, the preferred way is on the roof of the towed vehicle. Which you will need every time you want to take a trip without breaking camp. We decided a long time ago to go with a truck and a travel trailer with the boats on the roof of the truck. I can hook up the trailer with an 18’ boat on the roof of the truck without a problem. When we get where we’re going, unhook the trailer, and go exploring with the truck!
Yakima bed rack at tailgate, roof rack on cab roof.
17 ft sea kayaks hang out back 3-4 ft with 1-2 ft trailer clear. Best photo in my phone on topic.
(https://d3s3k13islrvw7.cloudfront.net/original/2X/8/873960ac6ce51580be025c95afb03328d7bdee91.jpeg “”)
Note my kayak trailer in the rear (can’t tell from this angle but it will haul up to 18’ boats on cradles). Though actually, most of my kayaks are folders that fit in duffel bags stashed in the compartments under the motorhome’s sofa.
One danger in carrying them on the roof is railroad underpasses. As in these scenarios:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsfuIP5Npc
If you enjoyed that, you’ll love this one:
The other is putting a pin hole in the single ply roofing membrane. The other is gravity and it’s affect on wives. Seems they get tired of climbing up there to tie down the yaks.
We put our kayaks on the roof of our van. We just added a hullavator by Thule to our long list of Yak accessories to get the kayak down more easily (the heaviest boat). This makes it easier if we head to a kayak launch site while our Camper is still hooked up at a paddling site. One kayak on a bow down. Expensive, but, saves your back and could save a marriage.
I was in a Greyhound in the wee hours one morning when he did that
Had to let the air out of the front tires and back out.
Yakima has a new rack with assisted lift from the side. https://yakima.com/showdown I might put a pair of these on “ladder Racks” on the new ride.