My wife to be and I are heading down to Corolla, NC for our honeymoon, and of course we plan on doing some kayaking while we're down there. We're driving down from NY and are bringing our boats with us, but we're not sure what to do with them for the rest of the time when we're tooling around NC and sight-seeing. Anyone know of somewhere to keep the boats in town? We can of course just leave them on the roofrack, but my boat's a 15' Carolina and her's is a 13' Walden, so that's a lot of weight to have on the roof of the car for a week :)
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
-tim
Rent instead?
there are several outfitters in the area, you may want to just rent instead. may not be as nice a boat but it would beat toting them all over creation.
another option is mini storage but you’d have to make sure a unit big enough was available. you could try a local marina as well?
i think i would rent…
rental location
– Last Updated: Jun-15-04 1:54 PM EST –
http://www.kittyhawksports.com/activities.kayaking.rentals.aspx
and
http://www.kittyhawk.com/kayak/rentals.cfm
Take Them Along
I rarely travel without at least 1 boat on the roof (usually its 2 or more).
On long trips its a good idea to use a cable lock for theft protection, but I have never had any issues.
I lived in a yardless townhouse for a year and had two boats on the truck at all times, because I lacked storage. I made sure that I kept them well 303’d but it was never a problem.
roof it!
I’ve gone on mega-driving marathons with boats on my roof (a wimpy little Ford Focus Wagon). Never had any problems, and as long as you loosen the tie-downs for a few hours a day (like, say, overnight) then I doubt your boats will mind either.
Someone mentioned cable-locks…a damn good idea.
Other than that, I always bring my own because they’re comfortable.
Was that “tooling around in NC” or…
Fooling around in NC???
Get a cable with lock and leave them on your car.
“The bride” and I did a three month 20,000 mile trip to Alaska, and our two 17 foot Perception plastic yaks stayed on the roof the whole time except when we were paddling, not fooling around!
Cheers,
JackL
On the Roof
I’ve been hauling and storing my boats (locked) atop the pickup for the past 8 years. Replace the straps annually (sun damage), bag or 303 the boats, and check the rack for tightness. Never had the slightest problem. A side benefit is that the interior of the vehicle stays cooler…shaded by the boats!
Chuck
I’m with Chuck-
I usually get asked about where my kayak is if I remove it from my rack-that way I just hop in my car and go to the put in.
OBX
No need to cartop your boats all over the Outer Banks. All of the homes in Corolla are built on stilts, so just lock your boats to one of the 12"X12" pilings and enjoy all of the traffic running up and down the roadways. Also, try to paddle from Ocracoke Island to Portsmouth Island… it’s great!
P.S. Try to enjoy your trip, I left the OBX and moved to Florida because it was getting too crowded.
Thanks!
Thanks for all the advice and big thanks to those who e-mailed me. Looks like we’ll be safe to leave it on the rack while we’re tooling around the area. Going to be about a 14 hour drive down there, so we’ll just have to stop and check on the boats every now and again on the way.
Looking forward to a great trip 
-tim
p.s. I picked up “Guide to Sea Kayaking in North Carolina” which looks like it’ll be a great book. I think we’ll be making about two day trips while we’re down there, and spending the rest of the time lounging