We have fiberglass kayaks we store on racks all summer, hull down. Storing them upsidedown, on the deck, would be so much easier in terms of keeping chipmunks from eating their acorns on the cockpit covers and keeping rain from collecting there. The 2x4 rack arms are well padded and the rack is out of the sun. Ant thoughts?
Should not hurt fiberglass kayaks. Not affected by heat like poly.
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That’s the way I store my poly yaks and it is around 100 F here in the summer.
No deformation noted over several years.
I cut a scallop in the rack arms and fasten nylon webbing across it so the boats are resting on the webbing.
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I would much rather deform the deck than the hull, but if it didn’t deform the hull, why would it deform the deck?
I built a shed for my boats. The 2x4 stanchions I set at 30 degrees below horizontal and put a 4" block on the end. I used nylon strapping to cover this. It spreads the pressure out and cradles either the hull or deck.
A coaming cover is always nice on a sit in boat, it not only keep out the nut, but it keeps wasps from finding a home there.
That reminds me of a story about a woman I saw getting into a kayak, she wasn’t scared of the kayak, the water, or the gators, the wasps rising between her legs did terrify her.
I don’t know what boats you have but… if the deck is too weak for the boat to be stored resting on it, I would be worried about what happens if you ever have to try an assisted rescue.
Hence the deck should be fine with being stored that way.
For a boat stored deck-down, it’s worth considering using mesh cockpit covers to keep out bugs et al but allow the boat to dry out. Ovals cut from plastic window screen material and light bungee cord should work.
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Thanks to everyone’s advice, I built a deck down kayak rack. All kayaks are NDK fiberglass so there shouldn’t be any problems storing them for the summer. I winter store all the kayaks hull down.
Decks are a lighter layup than a hull usually.
Depends on the boat. The Brits traditionally reinforced their decks in front of the cockpit because of needing to dump out water in an assisted rescue. My little old Vela deck did not complain when I pulled a 17 ft wooden canoe across her left to right. There was colorful language from me, but that was about the effect on my own stability.
Try the same thing on a Swift kayak and the fore deck would have probably collapsed.
Still probably lighter layup schedule Brit or not. My guess. Solstice Titan kevlar I restored seems to have lightest CD deck I have out of all of them. Granted deck is highest and biggest it is just really thin. I don’t think a boat build for big people should have a super light deck. I reinforced it add little weight but it’s nigh and day from original.
Sorry but you are not getting this. Brit boats DID increase the weight bearing capacity of their decks for assisted rescues. I have seen other boats bend when my Brit boat did not. Valley and NDSK probably still do.
Whether it matched the hull is not a factor here, just whether the boat can be stored upside down. If it can hold a 17 ft canoe it can be stored on the deck.
I can’t speak for the CD decks, my suspicion is that the older Solstice boats were probably reinforced there. Can’t speak to newer.
I’m saying hull is stiffer than the deck even in a Brit hull. Is it not or you think there is more material in the deck?
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Nope, sorry. Got you backwards. My bad.
To save weight I could see the deck being a little lighter. It still is not going to be paper thin and dent like bread dough.
Some of that has to do with the usage planned by the builder. If it is a sea kayak the deck would be stronger for the reasons Celia mentioned.
There is the need of the deck to work like gunwales and thwarts in a canoe. It keeps the shape of the hull and keeps the freeboard from collapsing with broaching waves.
None of that matters because it is just going to be stored. I have never stored a kayak hull down. My thought is that the hull is more important that the deck, for what I do.
The boats I store deck down are racing boats, one is 26 pounds and must have a pretty thin deck, but it has never deformed and it has lived through two Hurricanes and a couple of Tropical Storms while stored that way.