If a thermoformed kayak is stored outside but under cover in season, would that offer adequate protection compared to a garage?
I park my car in my driveway (no indoor parking available). My idea is to build a rack next to the driveway, at the same height as my car roof rack (with saddles). Seems like it would take just a few seconds to load the kayak that way.
Current method: Kayak is stored in the garage on a Paddle Boy. I place a plywood ramp at the garage threshold, wheel the kayak out to my car, and load it from the rear. There’s been some damage to my trunk and rear windshield molding even with a rug. This method is laborious and the kayak is heavy to load.
My concerns about outdoor storage would be mostly heat and humidity.
Anyone have a model for such a rack?
I’d keep some 303 or 3M yacht wax on
a thermoformed kayak stored out in the sun. Heat is less of a concern than UV. Thermoformed plastic won’t get saggy from heat like poly. Even poly can take the heat, but resting on a narrow rack support might lead to dents.
WIll be stored COVERED
Not in direct sun. The rack would be built next to a 6’ high concrete wall provides sun protection much of the day. And I would put something like a plywood cover over the top of the rack. Plus a tarp.
garages
Most garages get dang near as hot and humid as outside. If you are going to build a rack then plywood for a tarp, just go ahead and put a metal roof over it. I built a twenty by eight foot roof attached to the back of a storage shed and there is enough room for four kayaks and a canoe. With the straps to hang the boats I think I have maybe $300 in it.
Ryan L.
Here yer go…
Garage is below grade,
so it doesn’t get hot. Humid though, yes, year round. River runs through it in the spring.
Hmm . . .
I’m looking for a design for a small, simple outdoor rack about shoulder height so I can just slip the kayak easily from the rack onto my car.
Just flip it around in hot weather
Seriously, like a mattress, so one part isn’t always taking the weight. That means you want something that isn’t super molded to the shape of the boat’s hull or deck, just well padded to protect whatever is on it.