I can fit a 14" boat in my glove box!
Reminds me of the Stonehenge stage prop in “Spinal Tap”…
All my cars have had spoilers in back., in fact the darned things seem to be getting bigger. My personal preference is the Amagansett roller loader to get by the problem, But a big beach towel or the above mentioned rail extension off the side works too. I an 3 inches shorter than you, not exactly packing on the pounds, and hit medicare primary age. l have made this work with 65 lb 17 ft sea kayaks.
So, loaded the Cape Horn on my van for the first time yesterday, It was bloody hard, I need to work on that.
Or perhaps take my Honda Prelude on solo trips. This car is about the lowest stock body save for legit sports cars like a Corvette.
Lack of any sort of handles on the boat made it harder, but I found these huge velcro carrying handles that came with a rolled up kid’s Ikea mattress, they seem to work on the kayak giving me a way to apply force.
The boat does have toggles… you will find out in your rescue class those are not optional if you do assisted rescues. If you decide that the line is on the weak side you can just run new line.
Slide the boat up via the perimeter lines, much easier, grab the cockpit coaming midships. You may need to replace some or all of the lines, check how old they look. Put a towel under the end on the ground if you are fussy about scratches. The perimeter line should be able to take the boat’s or your entire weight tugging hard against it, and replacing them and/or the bungies is an every 1 to 2 year rite for me depending on how much use the boats get in salt water. Hint, get the line with a foam core- anything without it is a major PITA to get thru the molded fittings.
Below is a link to the device I use over the back of the damn tall Toyota Rav4, but the bar extension from the side that Guideboatguy talks about also works really well too. A friend shorter than me got her 17 ft 7 inch plastic kayak on top of a smaller van for years using just this 16 inch bar extension. The advantage of the Roller Loader is that it will work even if all you have is foam blocks, which somewhat makes up for the price increase since we got ours. You will still want a stepladder to finish things off, but this should let you get it up there to start that process.
http://www.amagansettbeachco.com/rollerloadercom
@Celia thanks for the pointers.
Up there I can manage without a ladder. I can step on on top of the rear tire and pull myself up which gives me a lot of reach for tying it down.
Just thinking more about it, using that other car I mentioned sounds like a good idea if not for the kayak but for the sake of the car itself. Its not getting enough road time and I am beginning to worry about deterioration that might be causing. I have been toying with the idea of selling it, but it’s a bit hard since I had put in a lot of labor into that thing. So this can be it’s new purpose in life.
Now, about that. I should be able to rig it up with some pool noodles and straps, right? Height-wise it has the roof sitting couple of inches below my collar bone.
PS Very fussy about scratches. It’s a problem really.
Get the proper shaped foam blocks for under the boat. They are cheap and a whole lot stickier. Pool noodles will not compress as well or stay put, more likely to roll around at highway speeds.
If you really hate scratches get the Roller Loader, reduces that. But I suggest you get over that as quickly as you can, the boat will be fine.
@Celia said:
Get the proper shaped foam blocks for under the boat. They are cheap and a whole lot stickier. Pool noodles will not compress as well or stay put, more likely to roll around at highway speeds.
If you really hate scratches get the Roller Loader, reduces that. But I suggest you get over that as quickly as you can, the boat will be fine.
Sure, thanks. I mean scratches on the car, don’t care about them on the boat 
Oh, that l get. Pain to monitor scratches on the roof. Basically, less likely the higher off the roof you can get the boat. So you may want to start looking for deals on Yakima or Thule racks on places like EBay.
@SpaceSputnik said:
@Celia thanks for the pointers.
Up there I can manage without a ladder. I can step on on top of the rear tire and pull myself up which gives me a lot of reach for tying it down.
A two or three step stool (Lowes or H.depot) would be better than balancing on the tire. Being tired after a long paddle, wind, sun, and rain are all factors that can make that tire position hazardous. I broke a wrist on the boat ramp just slipping on some slime from a standing position.
PS…at 63 the doc said they’d fix it. If I was 73 they’d just set it and not worry about range of motion.
You can often find used racks on craigslist. You want a rack that requires vehicle-specific clips that attach the rack to your vehicle…then you can order clips for a Prelude if the ones that come with the rack don’t fit. Looking at the Thule and Yakima sites you need to go with Yakima since Thule no longer sells parts for your Prelude. I suggest that you call Yakima and talk it over. I think you will appreciate having a proper solid rack for transporting your boat.
@Celia said:
Get the proper shaped foam blocks for under the boat. They are cheap and a whole lot stickier. Pool noodles will not compress as well or stay put, more likely to roll around at highway speeds.
Pool noodles will work. We used them on the trailer for a year or so. They were not a good installation and as Celia said they moved around especially if the boat wasn’t tied down properly. Another problem is that the foam is not UV protected and degrades in the sun. You get little pieces all over. Note the trailer pink foam in the attached picture. The covered foam Velcro secured bar covers, grey under the kayak, are a better deal for covering the bars is you wanted to avoid the “square” foam blocks. I use them on the Forester for about two years before use wears them out.
When loading alone I use and extender bar, PVC pipe sand spike from beach fishing, to load the kayak on the truck. Then lift the rear up the two step stool. With and assistant I can roll it up onto the truck.
Did you see these?
https://westmarine.com/buy/west-marine–car-top-boat-loading-system–15997000?recordNum=24
@SpaceSputnik said:
@Overstreet what a beautiful boat…
Thank you. It helps if the viewer doesn’t stand too close. Varnish takes a beating loading and unloading and logs and oysters, etc. It’s all character.
@Overstreet said:
Did you see these?
https://westmarine.com/buy/west-marine–car-top-boat-loading-system–15997000?recordNum=24
Yes, I did, thanks. I think I need to cool off the spending for the time being. I have a few options already with the existing gear, plus if it gets too annoying I can always hoddog it and put it between the seats in the van and tie down the tailgate. The van doesn’t have center consoles (and I appreciated that multiple times in the past) so it can swallow 10’ leaving 4 outside which is not too bad.
@Overstreet said:
@SpaceSputnik said:
@Overstreet what a beautiful boat…Thank you. It helps if the viewer doesn’t stand too close. Varnish takes a beating loading and unloading and logs and oysters, etc. It’s all character.
Still! Can’t have it perfect
Overstreet: did you opt for the wrist surgery? Broke mine at 58 (knocked the end off the right distal radius when I fell while ice skating.) I chose to go for the surgery to screw the parts back together and have not regretted it. Have regained over 95% of the range of motion of the wrist now after working very hard at PT. Never bothers me paddling at all.
SpaceSputnik: Your kayak has the same handles every other sea kayak does, toggles on the end. Trust me, you will get the hang of loading it. Any unfamiliar load feels awkward until you get used to it. Though a 55 pound boat will take more adjustment than lighter ones. But you can probably guess whey I got rid of all my kayaks that were heavier than 45 pounds.
Also, best to carry it upside down for a number of reasons. Though it is not easy to load that way unless you use my “head inside the cockpit” method. When I load boats any other way I flip them over once I get them up on the rack.