Transport My Kayak

by Wes Kisting

Maybe you’ve just found the perfect kayak, and you’re itching to take it home from the store. Or perhaps you’re planning to drive halfway across the country to paddle in a remote corner of the wilderness. Well, whether you’re going two miles or two thousand miles, you’re going to need a safe, convenient way to transport your kayak. You could just buy some rope and start lashing your kayak to the roof of your car, but don’t be surprised if your kayak (or your roof) ends up damaged before you get where you’re going. If you want to do it right, read the tips below. I promise they’ll spare you a lot of hassle, heartache, and repair bills.

There are two major ways to transport a kayak: use a simple set of foam blocks with tie-down straps, or use a full-blown roof rack system. Foam blocks are cheap, handy, and relatively effective, but they are best suited to paddlers who (1) need to get their kayak home from the store, (2) rarely transport their kayak more than a few miles, (3) don’t plan to drive on the Interstate, and (4) rarely kayak more than once per week. If you fit this description, a set of foam blocks and tie-down straps may be all you ever need to transport your kayak.

The major drawback of foam blocks is that to use them effectively for long-distance driving on the Interstate (where sooner or later you will encounter fierce winds or severe storms), you often need to wrench down very, very hard on the tie-down straps, which can damage your kayak (see Strapping Down a Kayak below). If you don’t, your kayak may shuffle around on top of the roof or the foam blocks may blow right out from under it. The other drawback of foam blocks is that, under windy conditions, they can make it exasperating or impossible to load your kayak onto the car. Most foam blocks simply rest on the car’s roof, so if it’s windy, they can blow right off before you manage to lift and set the kayak on top of them. Of course, if your car has a factory rack, you can cut a slot into the foam blocks and slide them over the rack to keep them from blowing away (most foam blocks are already slotted for this purpose); however, on very windy days, your kayak may try to do a cart-wheel as you lift it into the wind to put it on or take it off the roof. In these situations (yes, you will encounter them sooner or later), a roof rack system works considerably better. In fact, even under normal conditions, it is almost always quicker, easier, and safer to load a kayak onto a properly accessorized roof rack.

>Due to the widespread (and growing) popularity of kayaking, roof rack manufacturers such as Yakima and Thule offer a superb variety of kayak-specific roof rack accessories designed to simplify the process of transporting a kayak. Yakima, for example, makes a very secure kayak holder called the “Mako Saddle,” and a cool set of rollers called “Hully Rollers.” With a pair of Mako Saddles on the front of your rack and a pair of Hully Rollers on the back, you end up with one of the most convenient kayak hauling systems available. When it’s time to load up the boat for a trip, just lift the bow of the kayak into the rollers, pick up the stern, and roll the kayak forward onto the roof. Fasten everything down with a couple of webbing straps and you’re set to go! Simple, secure, and safe. For even better security (but a little less convenience), replace the Hully Rollers with a second pair of Mako Saddles. Then you’ll have a rock-solid setup that should outlast any storm you’ll ever drive through. I especially recommend the latter setup for cars with short rooflines. Hully Rollers only hold the boat securely when they have a lot of leverage against the boat, so they are best suited for vehicles with long rooflines, like full-size SUVs. Of course, on any vehicle, Hully Rollers generally seem to work as well as foam blocks. Just keep in mind that your kayak may shuffle around a little on the Hully Rollers if you drive in high winds. It’s up to you whether you prefer more secure hauling on the road or more convenient loading and unloading at the lake.

If you drive a vehicle with a narrow roof, it may be difficult (or impossible) to fit two kayaks side-by-side using a loading system like the Mako Saddles and Hully Rollers, which haul the kayak in an upright position. As an alternative, you can invest in J-shaped cradles like the “Hullraisers” made by Yakima. These cradles carry the kayak up on its side, reducing the amount of width required on the roof. Since they are side-loading, some paddlers find them quicker to load and unload, too. Instead of loading your kayak from the rear of the vehicle, you pick the whole kayak up and load it from the side. Of course, depending on how much your kayak weighs, this feat can require a certain amount of strength (especially on windy days, or when your arms are exhausted from hours of paddling), so it may not be ideal for smaller, shorter, or elderly paddlers who cannot easily lift their kayak above the roofline of their vehicle.

Some paddlers consider the Malone Autoloader to be the ultimate cradle system. Unlike the Yakima and Thule brand cradles, Malone constructs their Autoloader cradles from a flexible polymer, which allows the entire cradle to flex under stress, creating a shock-absorbing effect that might protect your kayak from the minor stress damage which could result when driving in high winds or when your car hits a pothole at high speed. Of course, I’ve used the stiffer-framed Yakima HullRaisers for several years with complete satisfaction and no adverse effects to my kayaks. Any of the major brands should work well, so I would purchase the system that offers the best price.

There are two schools of thought on how to tie down a kayak: Those who tell you (calmly) “Snug up the straps to a nice, tight, secure fit,” and those who tell you (with vigor) “Yank down as hard as you can! We don’t want that sucker flying away!” The first philosophy is the proper one. However well-intended, tugging too hard on the tie-down straps will do far more harm than good. I’ve seen plenty of kayaks with hulls that have been warped, cracked, or otherwise distorted after being tied down too tightly. I’ve also watched (cringingly, of course) as people dangled their full body weight from tie-down straps or nearly jerked their arms out of socket trying to “secure” their kayak to the roof of their car. Of course, I try to reason with these people whenever I see them, but their reply is often the same: “Are you kiddin’? You gotta jerk hard on those puppies [the straps] if you don’t want that sucker [the kayak] flying away!” While this desire is perfectly understandable, I would like to point out that the straps don’t need to virtually fold your kayak in half or leave crease marks across its hull to be adequately “secure.”

Here is some simple advice to ensure your kayak will stay securely fastened to your roof: