I would like to purchase a couple of kayaks but don’t have the shed space for them. Can kayaks be stored outside (year round) IF tarps or something is covered over them?? any other info would be much appreciated too. very new to the kayaking. Is there any kind of treatment needed to keep the kayaks conditioned properly.
not really
If there is any way to store your boats inside, or at least out of the sun, that is imperitive in my book. I would not cover them with any thing that would cook them in the summer heat; they must be able to breath.
mine are under tarps
Year round with no ill effects. 3 of them under 2 feet of snow currently.
Piut them under a silver tarp
With the silver facing out. This will protect them from the hot sun in the summer.
Make sure to cover the cockpit to keep critters out.
Depending on how often you use them wax, (or equal) them a few times a year.
Jack L
I store kayaks outside year round in
– Last Updated: Feb-17-14 11:53 PM EST –
Mississippi heat. Shady place under a tarp. Make sure air can flow around them. Close up the cockpits with cockpit covers or DIY with some mesh material and bungee cords. If you don't you will have bird's nest and wasp nest in them. Standing on end is good or on their side with Some kind of hangar. Don't leave them on the ground they will get a flat spot. Some of my boats have been out there 4 years with no problems, other than a bird's nest or two before I started closing cockpits.
303 protectant is advertised as sunscreen for your poly boat.
Even the boats I store in a shed are not heated or air conditioned.
Rack and tarp
I built a rack to hold 4 kayaks outside as well as my roof box on the base.
I have my three kayaks out there now with a tarp roof covering the whole thing from crest to ground to protect from the sun – but the foot plus of snow covering the tarp is also helping.
You just need something to hold them correctly off the ground, a cockpit cover, and something to protect from the sun.
I used to keep them under a covered porch for years without any problems – except the wife tired of looking out the living room window to see a pile of kayaks.
NEVER in Arizona
We always have to put them under tarps for UV protection.
Last weekend I did the lower Colorado River and at Nortona landing, found a pile opf aluminun canoes stores on the shore (for years with no problems) but within the last year, the company had begun to store plastic kayaks at the landing.
Aside from every hatch and such having been stripped by tourists, the plastic was degrading fast and i’d be afraid to even touch the boats for fear of them breaking into powder.
I’ve always used a couple posts.
I measure the average distance between the bulkheads on either side of the cockpit, and put in two wooden posts that distance apart.
From there you can be as simple or elaborate as you wish. Simple would be a couple eye bolts on each side of each post. Hook one end of a webbing strap through the eye bolt, run it around the bulkhead area of your kayak, and lift and hook the other end into the eyebolt. Do this 4 times, and you have 2 kayaks hung by webbing straps around the bulkheads. As good as it gets.
Use a saw to round off the top corners of your posts so your tarp doesn’t wear through at those points. And just cover them both with a tarp. Have the tarp tied to a few stakes on one side, and use bungees on the other that can be hooked and unhooked quickly and easily from stakes on the other side.
I’ve gotten a little more elaborate as my collection of kayaks has grown. But if I still had just 2 kayaks, I think I’d still be using the simplest version I spelled out above.
This covers all the issues of deformation at pressure points during storage. And as long as you don’t mess with trying to seal the ends of the tarps, building heat can escape, so you don’t get extreme temperatures underneath.
Yes
Sun protection and critter protection are important. Critters include mice, yellow jackets building nests in the ground under the kayaks, spiders, ants, etc. So cover the kayaks, use a cockpit cover, and put them on something to keep them off the ground. Cold temps are not a problem.
I keep my rack covered with a brown
tarp because it is camo against the garage.The tarp has to be replaced every year because the UV destroys it.
I also use marine wax to protect the decks while they are in use.
I had a poly Corsica stored under
our deck for several years. It rested on a concrete extension of our foundation, propped up against the side of the house. A snug cover was over the cockpit.
I was a little concerned about it, because we have chipmunks, squirrels, cats, maybe a stray coyote in the neighborhood. And sun did strike the hull at certain times, from between the deck boards.
But when I dragged it out to sell it, the cover was intact, the hull was dirty but not at all degraded, the plastic was not chalked, and some arty Krylon flashes I had put on for individuality (and to cover up “Proline”) were entirely OK.
In my opinion, you can store your kayak outside but with some safety precautions.
All hanging in 3" wide nylon straps.
One’s on foam blocks tied to the bench. I make up bungees 5/16" with a loop and a knot. Different sizes then when I pop them off I lay them in sequence. No knots to tie or undo. All have Seals cockpit covers. I put a big play ball on seat to keep cockpit cover up so there’s no pooling.
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That’s awesome! Exactly what I needed to learn how to store my kayak! Thank you.