Taking Kayaks

[JCGibson]

Does anyone take kayaks with them when traveling in a Class A? If so, where to you transport them? Currently, we have a rack on top of the truck. This is one of our favorite things to do when we are traveling across country or at the local lakes near Branson, Missouri.

Thanks

John

[rexlion]

Happytraveler wrote:

DSDP Don wrote:
We carry the Hobie Mirage Drive kayak. You can pedal it, row it or sail it. It's VERY stable for two people. You can walk on the hull.

We just bought the Hobie 14ft. Pro Angler. I guess it will arrive next month. We are going to carry it on our Honda CVR. So far with heavy bike racks on rear of car makes it easier to lift and guide on the roof. Right now we are searching for cradles for the Thule roof rack. (My husband's Christmas and January birthday present, LOL.)

I had a red Hobie Mirage Sport for one summer, and I carried it upside down and flat. The construction of the kayak allowed this type of carry. You may not need cradles if you are only carrying the one kayak. Here's a photo of it on my Highlander. I bought generic cross bars for the roof rack and slid matching red pool noodles over them to cushion the yak.


The pedal drive worked great, but the seat back on the Sport was not supportive enough to suit me and I got tired of the sitting position. I also disliked having the yak on the roof; the straps moaned in the wind while driving, and I couldn't access the rear hatch without loosening straps and rope. Currently I'm leaning toward purchase of a stand up paddle board this spring. (This thread is partly to blame for getting me thinking once again about getting out on the water... doggone expensive forum, LOL.) I have my eye on the Corran Hydra, a hard 9' board that breaks down into three 3' segments for travel/storage; it's supposed to be back in stock this April.

[Happytraveler]

DSDP Don wrote:
We carry the Hobie Mirage Drive kayak. You can pedal it, row it or sail it. It's VERY stable for two people. You can walk on the hull.

We just bought the Hobie 14ft. Pro Angler. I guess it will arrive next month. We are going to carry it on our Honda CVR. So far with heavy bike racks on rear of car makes it easier to lift and guide on the roof. Right now we are searching for cradles for the Thule roof rack. (My husband's Christmas and January birthday present, LOL.)

[DSDP_Don]

We carry the Hobie Mirage Drive kayak. You can pedal it, row it or sail it. It's VERY stable for two people. You can walk on the hull.

[cwdavis]

Here's another inflatable kayak, one that we've been eyeing ...

Advanced Elements kayaks. Unfortunately we have no personal experience with them, but they look like good boats.

[Texas_Bounder]

I was looking at someting like TuroPilot posted. They are kinda pricey so I was thinking of fabricating one with the same idea but for one Kayak.

[Merrykalia]

JCGibson wrote:

Is there good back support in the inflatable kayaks especially the Sea Eagle 385 FT?

John

The Sea Eagle Deluxe Seats, which are $49 are VERY comfy. I have 2 of the SEC seats that my two girls sit in and I have the deluxe one. There is a BIG difference. When I ordered it, the SEC seats were included. The deluxe ones are about 4" taller, and it makes it much more comfy for me. I can use the others, but prefer mine.

Deluxe seats

[JnJnKatiebug]

JCGibson wrote:

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
Check my profile and you can see what we do. That picture was taken at Beaver Lake. I have done all the rivers in north AR. My favorite is the Buffalo. I have Kayaked it from end to end.

We want to do the Buffalo sometime. Not far from us. How is the camping there? Did you stay in the national park?

Buffalo Point is the only campground with hookups (no cell service there). Tyler Bend is a nice campground but no hookups. Last year I found a bargin on two canoes. My SIL and I took the two grandsons (8 and 10) on a three day, two night float. We camped right on the riverbank in tents. They loved it and are already planning another trip this spring.

[Pass42]

We carry our 2 kayaks on a roof rack on the Wrangler (toad).....

[JCGibson]

Thanks everyone for the inputs. I didn't think about the inflatable type kayak. That might be the ticket and then we can just leave our others at home and use them locally.

Is there good back support in the inflatable kayaks especially the Sea Eagle 385 FT? We both have back problems and that is a must for us.

Thanks again.

John

[JCGibson]

JnJnKatiebug wrote:
Check my profile and you can see what we do. That picture was taken at Beaver Lake. I have done all the rivers in north AR. My favorite is the Buffalo. I have Kayaked it from end to end.

We want to do the Buffalo sometime. Not far from us. How is the camping there? Did you stay in the national park?

[rocmoc]

Yes, haul them on roof rack of Jeep. Motorcycle (dirt bike) on rack mounted to front of MH and bicycles on rear of Jeep.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[Klueck]

We had Tarpon Wilderness hard kayaks but decided the hassle of carrying them on the roof was too much trouble, plus they were too heavy.

I was extremely reluctant to purchase an inflatable kayak, but after reading some reviews from others, we decided to give the Sea Eagle Fast Track 385's a chance.

I was pleasantly to find they tracked as well as our hard kayaks, were easy to paddle and were more comfortable. They weighed half of what the hard kayaks weighed and when we aren't using them, they stow nicely in one of our basement compartments.

If you get tired of carrying kayaks on the roof, you might want to give them a try.

Here is my blog link about our Sea Eagles. They have many different models. Some are inexpensive entry level kayaks, some are more expensive and more for people who do a lot of kayaking.

HERE

[ctpres]

Sea Eagle 385 FT inflatable in basement. Secure out of the weather storage. Water ready in about 15 minutes. Almost four years old. Over 40,000 road miles, hundreds of nautical miles and still good as new.

[Escapade]

We carry a Sea Eagle 370 that seats two. These are inflatable and it stores in a bag in a storage bay. Just inflate with a airbed inflator and you are in the water. We have a 34' Class A.