With the difficulties in car topping my Necky Zoar Sport and wife’s Perception Carolina on my Explorer, I have ordered a Oldenkamp Magneta 4-Place Kayak trailer. I am going to mount my Thule Hull-A-Ports onto the trailer to carry both kayaks and likely a third to be purchased soon. Will full-time, Spring through Fall storage of our kayaks on the trailer-mounted Hull-A-Ports be adequate or will I risk oil canning problems? This storage would allow us to leave with minimal preparation.
On trailer storage
I have the same trailer and keep my boats on it all year round. It works for me, but it almost never gets above seventy degrees where I live. If it gets hot during the summer where you are, oil canning is a real danger for your boats, as well as deterioration from UV. You might think about covering them in place. I cover my boats with sheets of Tyvek…it protects them from the sun and keeps them cooler. You might also change their position, deck down one day, hull down the next, when it’s hot.
I would mak sure…
1. Keep thje straps loose or off
2. Keep the cradles under the bulkheads
I keep my two Perception plastic yaks on home made cradles which are movable so I can keep them under the bulkheads, and have never had a problem.
On the other hand, last summer they were on the truck roof on Yakama cradles, cinched down tight for three months while we were on our Alaska trip, and the Eclipse which had its bulkheads over the cradles was ok, but the Shadow which didn’t have the bulkheads over the cradles, developed dents at the points over the cradles.
I doubt if the dents would have formed if I didn’t keep them zinched down so tight.
Cheers,
JackL
Have the same trailer but different
mounts. Kept them on it year around while living in Georgia without problems. Now that I’m in Phoenix, take them off. But that is primarly a fear of theft than of oil canning.
It sure made it easier for a quick dash to paddle when they were always on the trailer.