What model do you have that has the removable tongue?
Have you looked at the Airstream Basecamp? They offer an ‘X’ package for that which is raised 3" and has off-road tires. It’s also lighter than the traditional models.
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I’ve had it a while, at least 10 years. I love it. Got mine with the storage box option, for extra on-trailer storage of paddling gear. Closest model I see on their website now is their basic MicroSport trailer, but I ordered mine with their removable tongue, which was an option at the time. It looks a lot like their retractable tongue option now, but my tongue comes out for separate storage, instead of sliding into the trailer.
This removable tongue kit I found online just now (Malone Removable Tongue Kit MPG485 - Aquabatics Smithers) is exactly what came with my trailer when I bought it. If I was ordering today I’d get the Microsport XT with retractable tongue and storage box.
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Yes we plan to get that one or the 21 ft FB when we get back to America. Everything is a tradeoff. I think the roof tent /Defender will do for Overlanding and maybe get something with a full bathroom for longer road trips. I need some walls between me and bears because my husband wants to go to Alberta and BC a lot. That X package we have admired, I am not sure we can find a used one as easily.
Oh yes, I did not realize it has a full shower / BR 
https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2021-airstream-basecamp-20x-pros-cons-review/
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2005 Tacoma here and history of many trailers.
Yes, try a trailer. With the caveat that a long tongue is FAR easier to back up than a short tongue trailer. Its easy to have a welder make a removeable tongue so storage is easier.
That’s done on trailerable keeled sailboats to make launching easier.
Also owned several truck campers and bumper pull trailers along the way.
There are lower height trailers you could put a canoe or kayak on. I’ve seen it done with folding canvas campers and inflatable rafts.
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I’ve had a Magenta kayak trailer for about 15 years. It has its advantages and disadvantages. If you mostly launch at a boat launch then trailer parking is not a problem. If you generally launch from picnic areas or just the shore often the parking lots aren’t set up for trailers and it can be a hassle. Turning around a trailer when you explore a back road that gets too bad can be interesting. I have a low car (on purpose) so I can load my kayak pretty easily by myself, so I mostly car top my kayak, but the trailer gets used multiple times a year (mostly when I need to transport more than 2 kayaks at once). If I regularly drove my wife’s Outback, I might use the trailer more, since it is pretty tall for me to load and unload a kayak.
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Nice 
We did have a Denali we traveled like that with a camper. Our configurations keep changing depending on where we are. That worked great for the PNW and BC.
I suggested we get a trailer to the husband and he says we can’t park it in most of the places where we launch. If you think an SUV is high, try a Defender with a roof tent / rack 
I dont see why you cant get an extension bar. You have a trailer hitch right? Harbor freight sells an extension bar (I paid $58 6 yrs ago)that fits the hitch & make the “bed” of the truck 10’ long. I haul 14-18 foot kayaks with my Tacoma.
Yes I bought a trailer that carries 4 yaks.(2 up on each side) Love it!
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Actually, I do not have a trailer hitch, but I would get one if it would enable me to use an extension bar. But I think we might be talking about different things. The kind of extension bar I’m talking about is a tube inside of a crossbar that you pull out so it’s projecting, four or so feet from the side of your vehicle. That allows you to move one end of your kayak (I do the bow first ) up and over the saddle so that it is resting on the extension bar. You then take the other end, lift it off the other saddle, and then set it on the ground. Then back to the bow, lifted off the extension bar and put it on the ground. It makes loading and unloading from a tall vehicle, a snap. I believe the one I had was a Yakima. I haven’t seen others by other manufacturers. If that IS what you were talking about and Malone makes one, do you have a link because I would definitely be interested.
Depending on your fabrication skills, I bought this boat trailer for a $100 and converted it to a kayak trailer with a removable tongue.
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Not sure about better fuel mileage 
Have a multisport trailer I made and would never want to go back to car topping. We sometimes have 4 boats and before the trailer it was just a real chore that took a lot of fun out of going. Even if it’s just me with a 30 pound Stellar I wouldn’t go back. Light enough that you do not have to back it around. Just unhitch and push it where it needs to go. Very pleased I did it.
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A couple of years ago I bought a Malone Microsport to haul my vintage Mad River Malecite which was getting heavy (at my age) to put on top of my Subaru Forester. Then I picked up a new 15’ kayak last year and began storing it outside on the trailer during the paddling season with a cover on it. Then I’d load it onto the Forester. I finally asked myself why am I transferring the kayak back and forth? So I now store the boat on the trailer and then just hitch it up to the car. At the end of the day I wipe it down and cover it up. And I have room on the trailer for a second boat if going with a friend.
I don’t know how long your kayak is but beware if you buy a trailer with a short tongue that you don’t jack knife your boat into your vehicle when backing up. The Microsport can handle long boats with out a problem. And backing up a trailer with a long tongue is more forgiving than those with short ones. Good luck!
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Putting a kayak or canoe on an RV is much more difficult than even a tall truck.
I’ve used a Trailex 6 boat trailer pulled by a Honda Fit for the last 10 years. Been very satisfied in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.
Even for heavy polyethylene sea kayaks, the bottom bar location is an easy sliding load & unload for one person. With more than 2 boats, I usually have the other boat owners helping.
Good for kayak club one way trips with shuttle.
Sometimes I have to arrive early at events to find double length parking. Trailers require extra parking fees at some lots/launches.
Light enough to disconnect and use a lifting strap to turn the trailer around if your backup skills are weak and you end up down a dead end. 
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I bought two trailers. First one 8 years ago was a home made long tongue set up with padded vee cradles for two sea kayaks . It has an open square base frame under the cross bars and I planned to make a platform for that so it could also be used as a utility hauler. But a local guy was selling a 4.5’ x 8’ stake side trailer for $500 so I bought that too 6 years ago. At the time I lived in a house cut into the side of a steep hill with no way to have a driveway or garage. The trailers had to live in a gravel dead end alley 100 feet behind and below the house and my growing fleet of kayaks and 1 canoe were housed in the walk out basement. The street in front of the house was a two lane dead end but one lane was for parking and there was not enough turn around space at the end for either the trailers or for my 24’ long box truck conversion camper. Our useless municipality had failed to condemn and take over half the area at the end of the narrow street so the neighbor who still owned it blocked it off as a private parking area. The garbage trucks, snowplows, Amazon trucks and moving vans all have to back all the way down the block to get out.
So the trailers were a real problem to juggle and to use. After struggling for many years (and only using the boat trailer once) I bought and moved to a different house in the same neighborhood, on a level lot with 3 garages and an immense concrete driveway/parking area. I can now park both the RV and the utility trailer handily in a private shaded space that still allows room to hook up the boat trailer, which I have stored inside one space in the the detached garage with two kayaks strapped to it. I can just back my car up to the garage door, hook up the hitch and go. I was lucky to own two properties when this one turned up for sale, and it was a seller’s market, so I was able to sell both at a nice profit to afford it (and get out from under a rental property that had been nothing but a nightmare with tenants from hell).
So, yes, I am happy to have a trailer, since it was one of the key reasons I was prompted to relocate to a property that is so much nicer than where I was living and way more convenient for my hobbies (especially paddling.) So, in a sense, getting a trailer changed my life.
I do confess, it is so easy to slide my boats into the box truck camper, which still has the overhead rear door and pull out ramp, that I use it for transport more often than the trailer. But having the boats on the trailer in the big detached garage means that when I need some extra covered work space in there I can just walk the trailer out of the garage into the driveway.
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I purchased a Harbor Freight light utility trailer kit and modified to my needs. Now I have a low-cost multi-utility trailer I use to transport up to 4 kayaks, camping gear, mountain bikes, furniture, bbq grills and lots of lumber and materials from Home Depot. Total investment was under $1000
I am always checking out other trailers on the road to look for ideas on extra add-ons. Could not be happier since I bought it. Side note: I am also an engi-nerd so assembling it was half the fun!
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Engi-nerd here too and I like the concept. I was thinking of getting a trailer to carry 2 boats + 4 bikes. I like the idea of having a “pen” for utility hauling like you constructed. I could make the back wall drop down to become a ramp for the bikes, and then cannibalize one of my racks to make supports to hold the bikes upright. The kayak and canoe would go on top. How long did it take you to build?
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