Which way is best? Is storing the kayak outdoors horribly bad?
Outdoors
Just remember that squirrels love to nibble on the gray high density foam, and if you are storing it any where near water, muskrats will eat half your boat before you realize what they are doing.
Cheers,
JackL
It depends
I store mine outside all winter and they suffer no ill effects, but then, mine are plastic, I cover them and use cockpit covers besides and the worst that happens is an occasional creepy crawly thing or a very little water. Couldn’t say how it would affect other boats made of different materials. They should be stored either upside down or on their sides. I use a couple of padded sawhorses or two by fours. And if it’s not covered, I dope them up good and thick with 303.
I have a Pefception Acadia II
So, if I elevate it and cover it well, that will be fine?
Sun is bad, theft is bad
a breathable cover is a good thing, 303 is a good thing, a storage shed or garage is a very good thing, breathable hatch and cockpit covers are good things. Slinging them up under a porch on two inch webbing, nice! All the way out of the sun even better.
Kayak storage
After tripping over the boat in my basement all Winter yesterday I converted one of my firewood racks into a kayak rack for my Perception Acadia and it turned out great!
My question is: Does covering the boat with a tarp count as “keeping the boat out of the sun”?
DougieJ
So, now are you going to store…
…the firewood in the basement?
Cheers,
JackL
Is a regular tarp ok?
Is one of the usual tarps from Walmart good enough?
If the tarp is non breathable
it is best if it does not touch the boat, but do what you can and do not panic Do not use a clear tarp, a heavy polyethelene one is fine. Have fun!
Storing kayak…uh firewood
Hee hee. JackL – no, we had a gas fireplace insert installed last Autumn. It puts heat into the house instead of drawing it out. But now I have extra room in the basement if I need to store a really nice new kayak! 
Can’t go wrong
on the inside if you have the room. The first four pictures on the link shows how I store mine, I have about $35.00 invested.
http://www.olympus.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=443908421105&page=1&sort_order=0
Tarp 
Be careful with any poly tarps. They act like solar collectors. (As Peter_K cautioned, do not lay them directly on the boat.) You could end up with a warped plastic wobbly. Direct sun is bad, Booooo, UV.
Taj
Tarps
I set my two up on kayak saddles which are on a very big tarp and then just burrito wrap them.
But why can’t the tarp touch the kayak? Also I have one of those big framed awnings so no real direct sunlight hits the tarps that cover the kayaks.
Earl
OK – I brought the boat inside
– Last Updated: May-13-04 6:37 PM EST –
And I found this on the Cabelas website -- $49.00 for the 80 lb model. $149.00 for 150 lb capacity one.
Price is right so I ordered one. We'll see how it goes. I'll probably smack my head on the boat a few times before I get accustomed to having it hanging in the basement rafters.
I'm not sure if this link will work, but here goes...
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/horizontal-item.jhtml?id=0001465014383a&navAction=jump&navCount=1&indexId=&podId=0001465&catalogCode=IE&parentId=&parentType=&rid=&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml.1_A&_DAV=search&hasJS=true
Cabellas’
That looks great, I have my canoe hanging from something like that. I got some eye bolts and tough rope and rigged a pully system. I can raise and lower the canoe by myself so it works great, and saves a ton of space. Bought all the stuff at a hardware store. For my kayaks I use the Yak Rak (SP?) and it works great. Keeps them pretty flush with the walls so I can still get both cars in the basement.
I use eye bolts
in the rafters and ratchet straps to hold the boat up. works great but i can easily lift my boat over my head . Of corse my sytem is cheap too.
Cabela’s hoist didn’t fit…
Northman, Cabela’s hoist fittings didn’t fit over the edge of the stringers in our 100 year-old house, so I sent it back and built a rafter storage solution using the same materials you describe. About $18 worth of stuff from Home Depot vs $50. Works great and has a much greater weight capacity. Once again, “build your own” is better!
Cheers,
DougieJ
glad to hear I could help.
Have had my poly boat haning for over a year and it still works great, no deformation in the hull.
Tarp shoul not touch the kayak
becasue that might be a point where condensation occurs and is held against the kayak. for composite boats either deterioration due to osmotic pressure, or mold might occur. Plastic boats could get moldy but I imagine that something could clean that up easy. Better to use a breathable tarp or keep it off if you can. Cooler too.