Roof-Racking the Island

Y'er prolly right Pirate. I'm still not sure if I'll persevere with loading it inverted or start using the cradles. I have only loaded it twice inverted and didnt really stop to think about where the aka bars were going to go (too focussed on getting the new toy home and to the water). My son is about to acquire a Prowler kayak, so now I'm going to have to get one of those sideway kayak carriers so we can get both yaks onto the car together. If I'd known I was going to end up a captain, I would have chosen Feathersword for a nick

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I have never carried the AI hull inverted as I was worried about scratching up the Yakima bars, where the aka crossbars would go, Slipping up and scratching the SUV roof and potentially damaging fittings on the boat itself like Aka crossbrace ball fitting. I am often loading alone onto a SUV whose roof is over 6 ft high. Currently I use a stack of 5 beach towels on the back of the roof to rest the bow on while lifting the stern up to put the bow on the grey foam blocks on the rack bars. I am thinking that some cradles or a J-rack might be a better way to go though. I was wondering about the cradles being tacky.

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2010 Hibiscus Adventure Island

Slight international language problem here. By tacky, do you mean looking cheap and nasty or do you mean sticky? If its sticky, no problem -Thule and Rhino and probably others make them with slippery rear cradles for loading and sticky front ones to stop slippage. This not a recommendation for cradles as a way to load - on a 6' SUV, the problem is you cant just rest the bow straight on the rear cradles the way you could on say a low hatchback. You have to rest the boat on the back of the roof and lift the stern. It is very easy for the boat to twist or slip sideways during this manoeuvre as you undoubtedly already know. Once the boat is on the roof, cradles are fine. I have just bought a J rack so I can load a second kayak. Havent tried it yet - I'll give you a report when I do.

Chris

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Pirate,

When you get your Rack&Roll bar, I cant warn you strongly enough to continue loading your hull upright, then invert it after its on the roof. With continued use, I am still finding that the R&R bar and the aka crossbraces are a lethal combination when loading. However, the bar is still a huge help with getting the hull on upright.

Chris

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I got the Rack & Roll yesterday and of course tried it out on the front lawn. You are right Chris in that loading the hull right way up is the preferred method, and spinning it over once it is up appears the safe way to go. What is available on the market to be able to carry the Island right way up on the roof racks without hurting the hull?..Pirate

Thule sells kayak cradles Pirate, but if you are OK turning the hull over on your own, I dont know if they are worth the expense to you. (I already had some) I am testing a set of J-racks tomorrow, so I'll give you a report on them then. Have a nice Chrissy .

Chris

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Yes please give a full rundown on the J racks you got. What brand and style and do you think you can load the AI hull on them alone. THanks...

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2010 Hibiscus Adventure Island

[img][img]http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/461/25122008249ap8.th.jpg[/img][/img]

I tried the new J-rack with the AI and a Prowler on. The Prowler is on the J-rack in the picture, but we earlier had the AI on the J-rack. It handled it OK and is a great way to get two kayaks on at once. It did not seem to make is any easier to load the AI single-handed. It is a Rhino J-rack (because I have Rhino roofracks). It makes the car feel a bit top-heavy, so if you are only carrying the AI, you are probably better off to use cradles or carry it inverted.

Chris

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I am hardly an expert, as I’ve only taken my AI to the water twice since I received it, but I’ll share my method of successfully car-topping it alone.
I have a short length of 11/4" plastic waste pipe around the rear Thule square bar and thick 22mm pipe insulation, wrapped with Gaffer tape along the full length of the front bar.

I went to my local motorcycle repairers and asked for a scrap rear tyre. I cut this in half, and drilled four No. ½â€

Different solotions found here and on youtube, not strictly Hobie, and no AI uploading either but could be useful

Padded rack extensions with a roller which sticks under the roofrack, viewtopic.php?t=11373&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

rollersystems from upside down carts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SN55Jfu94c

ready- made side extensions, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MUU7BZfAuE

suction-cup rollers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBcPgDx5kJY

Sliding it up from the back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBhhuKJAmik

With a special hitch post, (> 50 kg canoe there!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xAqOpSizk0

From the side, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsBJdEocuJ4

ultralight trailers http://rackandroll.com/

PF

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hobie Quest

It's actually 11/2", or 42mm plastic pipe/

I've tried racking mine on my GU Patrol with an ARB rack. The height of the rack and the 2" lift combine to make it a real pain.

A two person job for sure. I experimented with an improvised rack and roll style support using 3x1 1/2 before I made one but even that wasn't enough to achieve one man loading.

Back to the drawing board and maybe a trailer...

Dave

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A Hobie Sport and 2 Hobie Adventure Island's - Papaya & Hibiscus - I couldn't make up my mind so like I usually end up doing with lures I bought both and hid the credit card statement

I'm roof-racking on my '04 Honda Accord. I got a Thule rack system with the aero bars. I thought I could consider several ways to best load the AI and then buy the proper add-on.

I think that loading bar that pulls out of or attaches to the front rack bar would be a simple solution to loading. Unfortunately, however, I found out that that attachment doesn't work with the aero bars. So, I went with the SlipStream.

I liked the idea of having a cradle system that spreads the weight of the boat out better. The whole cradle pulls back towards the rear of the car to make it more accessible. There's a roller on the back. You push it up on the roller to the rear cradles which have pads that allow the kayak to glide up as far as you want. Then you let the kayak down onto the front cradles which are non-slip and keep the kayak from moving. Next you position the whole SlipStream rig on your racks where the load balances best and lock in down in position. It was awkward at first but it's quick once you do it a couple of times.

I have to put a rolled up blanket on the trunk of my car as a little extra slide and car protection. I would like to get something to put on the bottom of the boat at the back so that it doesn't get all scruffed up when unloading or loading on a paved parking lot and to keep it from sliding backwards while I'm loading. (To protect the bottom of the boat on pavement, I also use the blanket from the back of the car.) Someone here mentioned getting a knee pad from Home Depot to strap onto the back of the boat. I'm going to see about that today. It would help keep the nose from rolling back off the loading roller while I'm getting ready to lift it up onto, or lift if off of, the rack.

I am really liking that slipstream Idea.

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2010 Hibiscus Adventure Island

The Rack & Roll bar now works fine on my Merc with Thule aero bars.
I have it attached to the rear passenger side and put the back of the boat up first so as not to damage the rudder. Then a simple job to lift the bow and swing it across to the front roof rack. Then simply swing its bum across after that. I have tried upright and inverted and as Chris here has suggested, upright removes the risk of car damage caused by the aka bars. The options are then to just tie it down that way and maybe suffer hull distortion, or turn it over up there which is my preferred method.
You are welcome to come look at it anytime, or next time we sail....maybe tomorrow afternoon as it looks like a bit of wind is going to hang around for a few days.....Pirate