Hi,
My wife and I just purchased our first kayaks. We went up to Collinsville Canoe and Kayak in central Connecticut for their fall sale and got two great Perception Carolinas (plastic) one 13.5, the other 14.5. We live on a tidal salt marsh just in-land of the Long Island Sound and plan to primarily launch directly into the marsh. Because there is a ~20 drop between our house/garage and the water, we would like to store the boats down near the water rather than inside. I am thinking about building some type of basic rack and have some questions.
-What precautions should I take when storing the boats so I don’t damage them?
-What is the best way and place to support the boats?
-Any opinions on using rigid “J” type hooks vs. some type of webbing sling?
-Should they be covered?
-Any ideas or suggestions about the construction or design of the rack?
Right now, I am thinking of building it out of either PVC or pressure treated lumber, but I’m open to suggestions. I plan to stake the rack into the ground and secure the boats to the rack and locked to either the rack or a separate post in the ground.
Thanks for you help,
Scott
Two Things…
Sun is the biggest enemy of plastic. UV will damage the color and over time, break the plastic down. Have some sort of covering. Two, try to line up the racks with your bulkheads, so when it’s hot you have support around the plastic where it’s resting on the rack. Otherwise the hot plastic will start to “oil can” (dent). Repeated oil canning can become permanent. Paddling out the rack arms with old carpet, foam, etc. also helps.
sing
Mine Seems To Work
I built a rack which I attached to the back of a storage shed. It is very simple and constructed out of treated lumber. I made cradles for the boats from 2x10’s cut to fit each boat at the bulkhead as sting suggested. I lined the part of the 2x10 that the boat sits on with carpet. I attached the end of each cradle to a 2x4 with a shelf bracket and I also put a small metal 90 at the top of the 2x10’s edge where it meets the 2x4. (My boats are composite and they ride and store upright, you may want to store yours on edge.)
I also made storage covers out of some canvas that I bought at Walmart on sale. These covers are used only when the boats are stored for a week or more. They are constucted like socks with a zipper closure. They are not waterproof but they do keep the sun and dirt off of the boats.
Mark
What they said, plus…
…if you use a plastic tarp as a cover, try to
cover it so that the plastic tarp isn’t touching
the boats themselves.
Also be careful that unfriendly insects don’t
move in. Wasps seem to love building nests in
boats! I used to get a lot of roaches in my
canoe when I lived in Ms.
For kayak storage at your dock install two KayaArms….go to http://kayaarm.com/documentation/dock-storage/ . While at this site look around and note that you use only one of those KayaArms for easy kayak launch from that dock. For winter storage of two kayaks using those same two KayaArms go to http://kayaarm.com/documentation/ .