So I will be purchasing a plastic Kayak soon and have been worrying about hull dents and warping during transport. From what I’ve read carriers like the Hullraisers that transport the kayak on its side are better for plastic boats?
My trips will probably be about 15-30 minutes one way with the occasional 1-2 hour trips.
I think too many people
worry about how they transport their kayak. I have a poly Tempest 170 that I use the Yakima Hullraiser with. It works great and holds the boat securely. I don’t think you will have any issues with a kayak holder that holds it vertically or horizontally. If you were traveling cross country and did not plan to loosen the straps or take the boat off the car, then maybe there would be issues. My boat has been left on the car for a good 24 hours if not longer while strapped securely numerous times. No warping. Do what you think is right and what works for your situation. I would not be concerned with warping especially with the length of time you say the boat will be on the car.
Thanks
Sometimes I just need a little reassurance from people who have been there.
I would not be too complacent
…about long plastic kayaks traveling even keel on a car. I have seen too many permanently warped banana boats. I get a sick feeling just looking at them. You see some permanently oil-canned, too. Biggest culprits are too little space between racks, and too much tension on the bow and stern lines.
transport
Doesn’t matter for that length of time. Matters for storage if you’ll leave it sitting in a hot garage for years, for a matter of hours doesn’t matter in the least.
As mentioned watch the tension on bow/stern tie downs they only need enough tension to take the slack out of the lines.
Bill H.
Yakima
You might want to look around for an American company like Malone or Saris. Yakima was bought out by a Chinese company a couple of months ago…not that theres anything wrong with that.
only matters for extended times
I agree that whether your kayak is sitting upright or on its edge on top of your vehicle really only matters if the amount of time is particularly long, unless we’re talking about Phoenix in the summer. However, sometimes you may want/need to leave your kayak on your vehicle for an extended period of time so I do think it’s probably better to have it on edge for those times. BTW, REI has a good selection of Yakima and Thule racks and I particularly like their interactive fit guides: http://www.kayakreview.org/go/KayakCanoeRacks/
Some racks cause leaks.
– Last Updated: Sep-26-10 8:21 PM EST –
I've got a Duralite, so warping is a big concern of mine. I left my boat on my old Yakima saddles for a couple of days, and it pushed the hull away from the aft bulkhead so bad that it caused a major leak. :(
I have since traded my saddles for a set of HullRaisers.
When you own a "soft" boat, it becomes more important how you carry it.