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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:17 am 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
Hi All,

I thought I'd share a couple of pics from the maiden voyage. I spent a few bucks to get a good Yakima system to load my PA on top of my Toyota Highlander, but it was well worth the expense as it makes the job quick, easy and very secure. I'll post more later.

TDK

Image

Image

Image


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:25 am 
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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Sweet looking setup TDK!!

I know this might sound kind of strange...but....what do you guys use to stop the bow line from rubbing your hood paint? I used to use a pipe insulator sleeve on my Jeep, but I thought I'd put it out there and see if anyone had come up with a better solution?


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PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:30 am 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
troutbum wrote:
Sweet looking setup TDK!!

I know this might sound kind of strange...but....what do you guys use to stop the bow line from rubbing your hood paint? I used to use a pipe insulator sleeve on my Jeep, but I thought I'd put it out there and see if anyone had come up with a better solution?


I didn't use anything yesterday, but I was thinking about the same question as I was driving. I think I'll take an old sock, cut the toe off and slide it onto the strap. Pressure against the hood should hold it in place.

Also, I found that little plastic chip clips work really well to secure the loose strap ends. You can see the red one I used on the bow tie down.

TDK


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 4:18 am 
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Location: Nova Scotia, Canada
Hmmm, a chip clip eh? Have ton try it. Cool idea!
I usually just tie em in a big gob of knot or use those little velcro cable straps you can get at the dollar store.

Troutbum


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:23 am 
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I bought the same Mako saddles and Hulley rollers for mine. I mounted them on Thule racks on a '07 Honda Civic. I've spent a couple of evenings adjusting things and getting it all symmetrical. I take a dry run this morning and will let you know how it goes with the little Civic. A few notes:
1. the rack bars on a civic are spaced only 28" apart, balance fore and aft is going appears to be important.
2. the bars actually bend a little under the weight.
3. The Mako's compress some too, I hope they last on hot days in AZ.
4. My rollers are not so free-wheeling...a little friction is noticed going up....lube on plastic/rubber is scary....better be compatible. I'm 5'11', 190lbs and getting it up there is no problem as some might think, just thought the rollers would make it ultra easy.
5. The mounting of the rollers has you alternate the direction of the clamps forward and backward for secure mounting...this forces the rollers off to a slight angle. I did mine to where the front rollers of the pair are the furthest apart to better mate with the shape of the hull after placement.
6. Care should be taken that the front straps on the Mako's doesn't interfere with the rudder lash/cincher on top the boat. I moved the boat placement forward just so I could get the straps back further under the handrails of the boat.

All in all, I'd say my car/carrier combination is borderline. It will probably do the job for a while......but I see a trailer in my crystal ball if I can store the boat on it in the garage unloaded without distorting the hull badly.

I'll let you know how the dry run goes today.
Jack


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 8:49 am 
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KDK,
I carry my PA on 4 Yakima Mako saddles. I am thinking about adding a third set of saddles in the middle to spread the load as I sometimes carry an outback strapped to the top of the PA.
I was wondering how you like the Hully Rollers? do they dent the PA? seems as if the Hully Rollers would allow you to slide your PA on easier.


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PostPosted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 12:22 pm 
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Wow, am I relieved....the test run this morning went flawlessly. I took "Dead Cow Rd." (bumpy farm to market rd.) up to 65mph and even tried a quick emergency stop. The PA stayed where I put it. I think I can trust my setup now. My rollers still have some drag to them when rolling up the kayak but little coming down. I thought there would be indentations in the hull from the rollers when inspecting after the unload but there weren't. Funny, I did have some dimple and surface scratching/skuffs where the rear side of the Mako's rubbed. I might have to put on the felt padding they supply with the Mako's. I figured the felt was for rear saddles where you slide the kayak upward in place of the rollers we have. I'm hoping the rubber grips inside the saddle that is pulled up to the hull surface via the strap will keep the boat from sliding forward during quick stops once the felt is applied. I've been using a beach towel on the trunk area of the Civic to help the boat slip up and down during the transition. No damage to the trunk lid yet but I'm seeing how a rubber backed bathroom rug would help stay in place better during a breeze. Next up is launching this beast at the lake....I'm wondering if I should use the ramp and when/where to take the Trax-2 cart off. Maybe just walk the nose into the water till the wheels are at the waters edge, lift the back end till the cart drops and shove it forward....how do you do it?
Thx,
Jack


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PostPosted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 10:17 am 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
atavuss wrote:
KDK,
I carry my PA on 4 Yakima Mako saddles. I am thinking about adding a third set of saddles in the middle to spread the load as I sometimes carry an outback strapped to the top of the PA.
I was wondering how you like the Hully Rollers? do they dent the PA? seems as if the Hully Rollers would allow you to slide your PA on easier.


The Hulley Rollers work really well with the Showboat roller on the back to clear the spoiler. Once the boat is up horizontal they make it easy to roll forward to the saddles. I do have to put some foam blocks under the extension arms for the Showboat, otherwise the weight of the PA will push it down and contact the spoiler. You can see the gray blocks in the picture -- I just took a standard foam boat cradle and cut it in half. The slant of the foam piece matched the slant on my car roof perfectly. It provides just enough support to keep the long roller from pressing on the spoiler. The Hulley rollers don't seem to cause any indentatons on my PA, even when I have to leave the boat on the vehicle for several hours. This system really works well for my application.

TDK


Last edited by TDK on Wed Aug 11, 2010 2:45 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:29 am 
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TDK, that's a nice, neat anchor trolley install....could I ask what brand it is or the supplier?


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:36 am 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
jelaird wrote:
TDK, that's a nice, neat anchor trolley install....could I ask what brand it is or the supplier?

Thanks! That's a Hobie Anchor Trolley kit. I installed it myself, pretty much following the instructions. I did follow the suggestion of installing the bow pulley about 18 inches from the front, as opposed to 12 inches, to clear most of the heavy curve. That should keep the lines from popping up on top of the boat. The top line is about 1.5 inches below the top edge. Note that the bungee length plus the gap between the anchor hook and the bungee keep the anchor hook about 12 inches off the front pulley. I wondered if this would negatively impact positioning flexibility, but I found that the boat did swing around completely when I positioned it all the way forward. I installed the holder clip midway between the front of the hand rail and the accessory board on the inside of the boat, an inch or two below the top of the gunnel. I tried it on Sunday and it worked great.

TDK


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 9:52 am 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
jelaird wrote:
Wow, am I relieved....the test run this morning went flawlessly. I took "Dead Cow Rd." (bumpy farm to market rd.) up to 65mph and even tried a quick emergency stop. The PA stayed where I put it. I think I can trust my setup now. My rollers still have some drag to them when rolling up the kayak but little coming down. I thought there would be indentations in the hull from the rollers when inspecting after the unload but there weren't. Funny, I did have some dimple and surface scratching/skuffs where the rear side of the Mako's rubbed. I might have to put on the felt padding they supply with the Mako's. I figured the felt was for rear saddles where you slide the kayak upward in place of the rollers we have. I'm hoping the rubber grips inside the saddle that is pulled up to the hull surface via the strap will keep the boat from sliding forward during quick stops once the felt is applied. I've been using a beach towel on the trunk area of the Civic to help the boat slip up and down during the transition. No damage to the trunk lid yet but I'm seeing how a rubber backed bathroom rug would help stay in place better during a breeze. Next up is launching this beast at the lake....I'm wondering if I should use the ramp and when/where to take the Trax-2 cart off. Maybe just walk the nose into the water till the wheels are at the waters edge, lift the back end till the cart drops and shove it forward....how do you do it?
Thx,
Jack


That's the way I launched. We were on a concrete ramp that was pretty worn, so I walked the front in fairly far to get it to float, lifted the stern to allow the cart to drop and then floated the PA forward. I'm still babying the bottom of the boat, but I'll eventually have to get used to the idea that it won't be perfect forever. I do want to figure a way to launch and take-out that keeps me as dry as possible. Getting the boat out was really awkward. Unless you are with someone who can help place the cart, you really have to tip it on its side to put the cart in. For me, that required unloading a bit of stuff first. On a busy, small, gravel kayak launch area, I found that to be a pain. I'd love to hear some take-out tips from those in the know.

TDK


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PostPosted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 11:13 am 
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I roll it on it's side and plug in the cart. If the area looks to be capable of scraping the side up, I try to cushion it with a towel I carry to wipe my hands etc. Remember, this is a prime time to cause damage to the scupper tubes. Take the precaution of making sure the cart is "clipped" inside with the little pin so it doesn't fall part way out of the scupper and break it when the wheels contact the ground. The flipping on it's side and plugging in is usually done after I've made a trip or two to the truck to put stuff away. Just makes it easier than trying to keep everything inside. The rods I leave in and strapped down. Small stuff I put away. Any lures "tail-bit" gulp or gear still topside gets put in a tupper-ware box for a rinse when I get home. Either walk some of the stuff to the truck in a couple of trips or just string it out on the ground long enough to "load" the cart and put all the small stuff back inside the kayak, wheel away. It does present some different thought and habit changes. It's worth it. Either way gives you a chance to stretch and move around.

_________________
Yakkingaway
Portsmouth, VA


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:36 pm 
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One thing I forgot to mention is that I have had one Mako saddle collapse under the load of a PA and an Outback. it was a hot summer day, don't know if that had anything to do with it. Luckily I had foam blocks under the PA so when the saddle collapsed the PA did not end up creased from sitting on the pipe. REI replaced the saddles no questions asked.


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PostPosted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 8:11 pm 
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Location: Virginia - Pro Angler 14 owner since Feb 2010
atavuss wrote:
One thing I forgot to mention is that I have had one Mako saddle collapse under the load of a PA and an Outback. it was a hot summer day, don't know if that had anything to do with it. Luckily I had foam blocks under the PA so when the saddle collapsed the PA did not end up creased from sitting on the pipe. REI replaced the saddles no questions asked.


I'm not certain about the max capacity, but I suspect the PA alone is likely at the limit of what the saddles can handle. I probably wouldn't try that again.


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PostPosted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 5:15 pm 
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TDK wrote:
atavuss wrote:
One thing I forgot to mention is that I have had one Mako saddle collapse under the load of a PA and an Outback. it was a hot summer day, don't know if that had anything to do with it. Luckily I had foam blocks under the PA so when the saddle collapsed the PA did not end up creased from sitting on the pipe. REI replaced the saddles no questions asked.


I'm not certain about the max capacity, but I suspect the PA alone is likely at the limit of what the saddles can handle. I probably wouldn't try that again.


that is why I am going to add a third set of saddles in the middle to help support the load. my trailer is not wide enough to haul the yaks side by side so I have to stack them.


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