I have a single car garage I keep a car, bicycles and lawn tools in. I’m looking for ideas and systems for storing a 12 foot kayak.
Depends on what you have
Are you in a Appartment, single family detached home, row-home, condo? Do you have a yard, are you ruling out outdoor storage?
I also hoped to get my 14 foot kayak in my garage, but realized it couldnt happen. I’ve heard about guys who store their kayaks in their living room during the winter.
Exposure to sunlight is your worst enemy, but you can get UV blocks like 3M from sporting good stores.
Do you have enough vertical clearance to suspend your kayak above your car in the garage?
Here’s an option
I have a 12’ polyethylene recreational kayak that I hang on the wall of my storage shed. I use two 1"-wide straps that have plastic snap buckles. I got the straps from the Spring Creek Company. They suspend the kayak horizontally with its bottom against the wall. The weight of the kayak is borne by its side, which I understand is the best way to to keep from denting the plastic.
Pat
kayak storage
Hanging your kayak is the best. Check LLBean as they have a good rack that goes right on your wall. It takes up very little space. Also various kayaking companies sell the one that go on the roof of your garage. Nice to get it out of the way but if you have an automatic garage door it could be a problem. Stay away from the outside…UV light will kill your kayak and age it very fast.
Perception yak hammocks
Hi,
Lots of people have rigged their own do-in-yourself systems. I bought a readymade system from Perception on-line. Holds three boats, installed in less than 10 minutes and it’s easy to use. takes up very little space.
Great set-up
anywhere
Living in one bedroom apartment = storing kayak in the living room.
I keep it propped up against my coffee table. I just consider it a decorative piece. Though I do have to climb over it to get out the front door.
same here
De-lurking for a minute…
I have two kayaks in the living room - just picked up the second one today. No garage + city living= storing boats in the house. Keeps them out of the sun and away from thieves (the outdoor variety, anyway). Luckily, our front door opens into the living room so there are no corners to get around.
Indoors, as long as you have an empty wall that is at least as long as your boat, and can get the boat into that room, this setup works well: get a 1 or 3 space kayak hanger ($25 to $40). Kenco has 'em, as do other places. Mount two heavy duty hardware-store screw hooks into the wall studs, put the boats in the kayak hanger and hang from the screw hooks you installed. Would work equally well in a 1 car garage, I’d imagine.
The whole setup takes up very little space, they’re stored properly on their side, and they make cool wall decorations when you’re not paddling. Nice to look at them in the winter months when you’re waiting for springtime paddling, too.
Cheers & good luck.
hang mine upside down w/
ratchet straps. Could rig something w/ ropte too. endless posssiblities.
garage storage
For about 30 bucks of material and 20 minutes of work, I rigged up a system in my garage which includes eye hooks into the ceiling studs and straps (wide ones) to cradle the yak. I have a two car (truck) garage with an automatic opener but have the yak in a position which still enables clearance from both the trucks and the garage door hardware. My is 14’ so I bet you can do it. Good luck.
Jim
Kayak Rack
I built a singe Kayak rack to store my Kyak in my garage it sets on a angle and extends 22 inches from the wall, Its made out of 3/4 inch conduit that you can purchase from home depot or Lowes it requires only 1 piece 10 Feet in lenght the hole project cost less than $10.00 if you want more information let me know i can also e- mail you photos of the one i built
outside
I have a fleet of kayaks and canoes. 2 canoes, a 16" k-2, 3 SOTs, 3 SinKs plus gear and no garage.
So I built a rack in my yard for them. It was cheap and with closed-cell foam to cushion the boats and tarps to protect them ,it works.
I should have photos at my yahoogroups site “TucsonPaganPaddlers” in the photo section.
http://groups.yahoo.com/TucsonPaganPaddlers.
And if you are worried, some really long bicycle cable and padlocks will deter the honest and lazy thieves.
I use 2 old lawn chairs for now
http://www.msnusers.com/SherriKnott/loon111.msnw?albumlist=2
I did get a hoist system for Christmas, so when I clean out my garage (HA), I will install it there.
http://www.rei.com/online/store/ProductDisplay?storeId=8000&catalogId=40000008000&productId=47687874&parent_category_rn=4500878
wall rack
I made a simple wall rack out of water pipe from home depot. you can see pics of it at photos.yahoo.com/pastrad . click on kayak. works great, is cheap, very sturdy, and takes up very little space.
word.
Storage
I would hang my Tempest 170 from the ceiling of our living room, if it were up to me, but the wife put her foot down, in fact both of them firmly, saying “NO”.
The garage is a little crowded, so I have hung it under our patio roof, right outside our living room windows, this was the next best thing to in house hanging, plus I can sit in the living room and check it out anytime I like.(smile)
I used a Hollister hoist system to lift it out of the way of tall heads, and also put boat in a bag to fully keep it clean and safe.
Oh well this is my solution, plus the little lady is still happy.
I stored my Necky Spike from
the rafters in my garage from bicycle hooks. I used two tiedown straps that I also used to tie it down to my truck bed. when I moved to an apartment, I hung the hooks of the tiedowns over my patio fence, and hung it on it’s side. It was exposed to the elements, so I went to a carpet store and got a large plastic bag. When carpet is shipped it comes covered in plastic. carpet comes either 12 or 15 foot wide, so it should work out for your situation if you have to store it outside. good luck
I suppose in my garage isn’t an option