Kayaking is a great sport for fun and for fitness. It gives you opportunities to get on the waters and view the nature in a different angle than hikers do. While having fun, you are exercising every muscle in your upper and lower body, without putting pressure on your knees. For me, I am a nature lover and I sit in front of a computer for a long time every workday. By kayaking on waters, I relax my mind, reduce my stress, strengthen my back, and burn a lot of calories happily – isn’t that fun and healthy?! Now let me show you how I carry a kayak (Pelican Unison 136T Tandem) on a small car (Ford Focus 2013).
Here’s the final result after securing a kayak on a small car:
What you’ll need:
1. A basic roof rack. In this case a Rhino Rack 2500 series 2 bar roof rack system
2. A kayak carrier. In this case a Thule 881 Top Deck Rooftop Kayak Carrier
3. One meter (3 feet) or two (7 feet) utility cords.
4. A cutter/scissor/knife.
5. A lighter or match.
Step 1: Follow manufactures instructions to install the basic roof rack (if you don’t have a built-in one) and the kayak carrier kit.
Step 2: Open your hood and tie some utility cord (about 100 lb capacity) to some metal parts of your car (see picture below). Make a loop with your utility cord. You may want to burn the two ends of the cord with a lighter or match a little bit so that the fibers hold together nicely. Close your hood after you are done with the loop.
Step 3: Open your trunk and tie some utility cord to the truck lock metal loop. Also form a loop with your utility cord. Make sure the utility cord do not cover the top part of the lock loop, so that your trunk can still lock properly.
Step 4: Put the kayak on the carrier. Make sure it’s nice and snug on the carrier. Try to keep the center of weight of the kayak right in the middle between the two roof rack bars. This will provide maximum stability. Tie the kayak down with the ratchet tie down included in the kayak carrier kit. The center of weight is approximately at the center point of the kayak. You can try to lift the kayak from the bow (front) and the stern (rear) separately with your hand, just to feel the weight distribution.
Step 5: Tie the front and rear of the kayak to the loops you made in Steps 2 and 3.
Step 6: Go out and have a test drive before your first trip. Check the tiedowns during your breaks in your trip.
Hope you enjoyed reading this post!
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Cheap and effective kayak carriers:
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