Thanks Larry.

Yes this is the normal setup. I worked out there the centre of gravity was and positioned this in the mid point between the bars. The bow is a little up in the air but the angle of the photo does make this look worse than it is. I do have a bow and stern strap but the 2 time I've driven with it on my roof it appears to be very secure. I always try a few harsh braking events and slights swerves when I first set off to check any movement.

When I step down into in car size to my new fiesta i will be making use of at least the bow strap.

Maybe I'll start using the bow and stern from now anyway...afterall I have them already so no real extra effort

At high speeds I would be concerned about the aerodynamic Centre of Pressure, rather than the CoG. The further forward the front of the kayak is from the front tie down point, will it allow the kayak to create greater sideways pressure at speed. The more angle it gets into the wind, the greater the pressure increases. Probably a matter of priority to tie the front off.

Very good point Pete.

As I said, I've got the straps so will start using them from now on.

Thanks for the tips guys

Unfortunately, due to a forced house move (landlord booting us out to renovate and move his family in) we were unable to find a garge big enough for my fairly recently installed hoist:



Therefore, I have reverted to making a stand for the yak to fit on - out of the wooden joists i used to install the hoist. i also found a good length of pvc on the nature strip so prompty made good use of it:





The flex in the pvc pipe should help to spread the load of the yak and stop and deforming over longer periods of storing.

I didnt think it would have fitted in the garage with my pride and joy, so was going to build a cover/roof for it. however, after rearranging things in the Cave there would be room to fit in down the side. So i fitted a set of casters to the bottom, fitted a cross brace for some rigidity and i can now simply wheel it out of the way when i need to work in the cave:


I'm thinking of halving the height of the frame as i'm a little concern if the yak falls off the frame from that height if next the the kombi haha. I originally built it that high thinking it would be a good height should i need to work on it

Reeling wrote: I'm thinking of halving the height of the frame as i'm a little concern if the yak falls off the frame from that height if next the the kombi haha. I originally built it that high thinking it would be a good height should i need to work on it

Maybe you could use your roof rack tie down straps to secure it on the frame?

Any reason you dont just store it on stand upside down?

Seasherpa wrote:

Reeling wrote: I'm thinking of halving the height of the frame as i'm a little concern if the yak falls off the frame from that height if next the the kombi haha. I originally built it that high thinking it would be a good height should i need to work on it

Maybe you could use your roof rack tie down straps to secure it on the frame?

It was more regarding whether my handy work would fall apart rather than it miraculously fall off.


Keith, I could do. Didn't even think of that to be honest. The pic tubes are spaced apart equal to the grooves in the underside of the hull.

It was all still standing this evening when I can, eg home from work haha

Looks good. The PVC should work well as a permanent storage. There have been plenty of Hobies stored successfully for years like that. I store my Quest and AI on similar rails, except my stand is three yaks (~2.3m) high and still not in any danger of tipping over.

Unfortunately I didn't get out this morning as I've having to work today and tomorrow. I did manage to FINALLY make a start on replacing my horrid RAM mounts and fitting some Scotty flush mounts.

Out with the old:


and in with the new:




I've got a couple more to fit but just have to figure out how best to reach inside to be able to bolt them up:


After my work tomorrow and the wind picks up too much for a fish I'm hoping to also make some extensions for my Berkley QS holders that will fit into the mounts that have the rocket launchers in in the pic above.

p.s. I'm not sure what I was worrying about regarding cutting the holes hehe.

p.p.s> I've saved all of the hole saw plugs and the swarf from drilling in case future repairs are necessary

Interesting to see the recessed mounts fitting in the forward position. They wouldn't fit in the 16, only the berkley mounts would fit. How do you go with the rear mounts and your elbows? I actually rest my elbows on my rear bullhorn tubes for extra stability when its rough,. You could do the same with the launchers in there.

Whats the railblaza mount intended for, a light??

With your intention to use the berkleys up front make sure the tabs are in the right orientation with the scotty mounts so they dont release in a position you are likely to use.