I store my kayak at a friend’s house under her deck. I purchased wheels for it so I can get it under & out with ease. Problem is I can’t use a cockpit cover with the wheels because the straps hook onto the cockpit rim. Can’t flip it over on the wheels because its a V shape & the boat doesn’t sit properly on the wheels upside down. Any suggestions on under deck storage?
How about
putting a length of rope around the cockpit with a couple of loops in the right place for the hooks to attach. Rope on cockpit, hooks into loops on rope, then cockpit cover over the rim, but above the rope.
If your cockpit cover has that adjustable bungee that ties at back, maybe you can retie that knot so that the hooks for the cart would hook on a that bungee rather than have to go inside the cockpit.
Good luck.
Mark
You might put a large piece of plastic
over the cockpit, covering the cockpit and the straps, and attach the plastic with some duct tape or around-the-hull bungees.
It may not keep all the bugs out, but it should keep out the rain that drips through the deck. If the boat gets real buggy, I noticed that No-Pest Strips are still available. One hung in the boat may be enough to dissuade or kill bugs. Myself, when I take out a boat I’ve been storing, I just spray a mild pyrethrin insecticide in the boat, and let the road wind blow out the dead on the way to the river.
In the long run, if the plastic works, you can select some sort of vinyl-coated fabric and sew up a cover with attachment straps.
Another thought
If the cart has a webbing strap that holds it to the kayak as well as the straps that hook onto the cockpit (like most carts I know) then I think you can do without the hooks for the short distance of rolling it under and back out of the deck. Just roll it under as far as you can and still have access to the cockpit. Remove the hooks and put on the cockpit cover. Then roll it the last bit using just the web strap to keep the cart and kayak together. If there is no additional strap, then you could buy a strap or use a piece of rope to secure the cart to the kayak for the last few feet it has to roll under the deck.
If the ground under the deck is uneven or soft you could put down a piece of plywood (or something similar) to put less strain on the kayak to cart connection as it rolls under the deck.
Mark
Storing kayak under deck
Mark, Thank you so much for your ideas!!! I’m going to give them a try, I think they’ll work.
Michele
Hmmm…
I guess there’s no getting around the need for those hooks. I use the black plastic screenwire that you can buy for window screens at the hardware store. I attach it with a loop of rope and bungee. You might feel Ok with poking hook holes in this stuff. Roll it up and save it and you can use the same screen and the same holes next year. It might even be possible to put the screen on really, really loose so that the hooks would not make holes.
I agree with the large tarp
I stored two of them under a deck for about five years.
And I just wrapped them each in a large tarp.
You could still leave it on the wheels and use a few bungees to keep the tarp in place.
the tarp also kept all the crud that came through the deck off the boats.
Cheers,
JackL