Anyone out there with any tips on how I can load & unload my OK Cabo alone onto my Pajero roof rack? At 35kg and 16’, she’s not really a dream to handle out of the water. I’m thinking of fabricating some wheels for transporting it on land but my main worry is loading & unloading it alone.
ROOF RACK HEAVY LOAD LOADING
– Last Updated: Jun-24-04 1:42 PM EST –
procedures usually recommend an extender bar and a 2-part lift.
First, you buy the extender -usually a pipe with a slightly smaller diameter than your current bars, between 150% and 175% of the bar length. My 2 Yakima rack setups are nice in this respect because they're round and you probably can get pipes (or rebar, come to think or it) that'll fit in fairly snugly with little movement, but my Thules can also use the procedure even though they're rectangular and there will be some slip along the larger dimension. You can get one of these pipes at a home depot, better hardware store, or plumbing supply store -or maybe an industrial materials supply center.
Next, you uncap the forward bar. And try not to lose the cap -it helps keep water (or snow) out of the insides -and it stops that awful whistling at spped...!
Then you insert the extender bar into the uncapped roof rack bar.
Now tote your Cabo over to the car -perhaps (probably?) using a kayak cart -and lift the front end up on the extender. I usually carry my boats bow forward -if you do it bass ackwards, justturn the instructions around and lift the stern. Ditto for the following...
You may want to tie a rope from the aft of the boat to the extender, or the rack, to prevent the boat from sliding backwards as you lift the front end if you experience slippage as you lift the one end.
Now you lift the aft up onto the back bar. Slide the boat off the extender onto the roof rack bar up front, and recap the roof rack bar. The boat has now been loaded in 2 steps with a LOT less effort than hoisting that monster overhead in one fell swoop.
Stow the bar in the trunk or wherever, strap the thing down, pack the rest of your gear, and off you go.
Take the boat down by reversing the process.
And THIS procedure makes it a LOT eaier to get the boat TO where you want to
Paddle On!
-Frank in Miami
In addition
to the fine advice above. I srap a piece of rubbery sticky material (like a bath mat) to the stern of the boat to prevent gouging up the stern on blactop parking lots. It will also help prevent the boat from sliding.
What I do
is anchor the bow against something on the ground, lift/rotate the midsection so that I end up with the kayak upside down on my head with one hand under each gunwale, and then just slide it on. It’s a little painful but works if you’re reasonably strong and comfortable wrestling with awkward loads. Probably not recommended if you have back trouble, but if done right most of the lifting can be done with a straight back.
AND ONE OTHER THING-
That’s not a bad method, DL -I carry my boats that way from back yard to front and thence onto the Yak rack on the Jeep. Ditto for the beach getting to/from the water.
But I usually carry it OVER my head (our SOTs) or on my shoulder (the Eclipse), because I found one VERY painful problem with the old “use your head” method. Here’s the progression of pain:
I usually used to wear a ball cap paddling.
I’m loosing my hairs upstairs. Therefore, I’m also loosing my padding and natural head cladding.
Ball caps have these little buttons smack dab in the middle of the top of the cap.
And they HURT like H*LL when the yak pushes down on your (my) inceasingly unpaded skull as you “use your head” to carry it!
So I therefore lift the yak OFF my poor old head and hold it up and OVER the old noggin… so far, so good, thank goodness. I’m still in decent enough shape to do this stuff. But I sure dunno about doing THAT with a Cabo…! ANd it’s not just the weight. I can hoist 80 pounds OK, it’s that unweildy 16+ feet of 80 pounds that’s a problem!
Get a hand towel and put it under your cap, and it works WONDERS on saving Ye Olde Noggin. Even for a short lift it right at the car hoist.
ANd getting it up there a LOT easier seems to help in allowing us to more eaisly, and therefore more frequently, to
Paddle On!
-Frank in Miami
Oh yes indeed!
My usual paddling caps don’t have a button on top, but my son plays baseball, and sometimes I’m going straight from baseball to paddling or paddling to baseball, and it HURTS when I forget about that !@#$% button. But with the right hat, it’s easier to balance the yak with three points of contact instead of two. I’d love to be able to load the Cabo one end at a time but it doesn’t work with the way my car is shaped.
Thanks for the ideas guys
I have a basket type roof rack on the Pajero but I’m going to try Frank’s idea on the extender bar this weekend. I have expanded metal mesh as a base of my roofrack & they are pretty robust - so I’m sure I can get away with wedging a bar in between the gaps enough to hold the weight on the Cabo.I’ll post a result of my ‘experiment’ (if I dont end up in the hospital with a hernia case!)
I’ll also remember that baseball caps and portaging does not go well together!! It’s amazing what experience teaches us…lol
Any of yopu guys have experience with the best method of transporting the Cabo on land? I’m playing with the idea of wheels that fit into the scubber holes or maybe some shoulder straps that thread through the scupper holes. Comments please?
Dzul from East Coast Malaysia