Need Ideas for Kayak Cart and Storage

As I know, Hobie recommends that their kayaks be stored either on their side or with the hull facing upwards. However, every time I see a picture of a kayak on a cart it is right side up. In fact, it is recommended to keep the wheels in the kayak holes while you launch and then remove them in the water and turn the wheels upside down to store them.

I have somewhat of a unique problem in that I am over 70 and we live directly on the Sea of Cortez. I use the kayak frequently and most of the time I am alone. We have a kayak storage room about 44 inches wide, 6 feet high, and 25 feet long. It has sliding doors on the long side that open to about 12 feet. Unfortunately it is on a paved sloping access path to the water so one end of the storage facility is about 6 inches off of the pavement and the other end of the open door is about 18 inches off the pavement. I find turning the kayak over on a concrete surface and then trying to lift it by yourself is not a fun task.

I have been storing my 2 outback's improperly with the wheels inserted in the normal manner. With only one person I can then easily roll the kayak to about 30 degree position and put a pad down outside under the front end. I then can lift the other end of the kayak out the door and drop it down the 18 inches to rest the wheels on the concrete. To do this I put some C clips thru the top of the kayak wheels so that they do not fall off the kayak when it is lifted. We then roll it down the malecon about 100 yards to a sand beach to put in the water. As the weather warms up storing the kayak this way is starting to cause the hull to deform slightly. Thus, I need to figure out another easy method of storing and frequently launching the kayak that does not require much lifting.

One thought was to store the kayak upside down but still with the wheels inserted. However, this seems like it would still cause the hull to deform since no weight is supported by the stronger top rail surface. Another thought was to find or make a set of kayak wheels that was designed to mount to the inverted kayak with the support being the side rails. I do not know of any set of kayak wheels that is wide enough to support the kayak by the rails and that would not fall off when the kayak was lifted into the storage. Does anyone know of such a set of kayak wheels?? or have another suggestion?? Also, do you think that I would still have to take the kayak off of the wheels to store it so that it would not deform the hull?

I also have a Harbor Freight trailer that is normally kept folded up in the garage where the kayaks are mounted upside down for transit. If the kayak was stored upside down on the wheels it would make loading the trailer easier.

Note that I am not concerned about leaving the kayak cart on the beach since theft is not an issue here in this part of Mexico.

Since this is the case, is there any reason you couldn't just keep the hull in the water on a fulltime basis, tied and locked to pier post or similar solid object? Then all you'd have to do is bring the drive, seat, etc outside to go boating.

Perhaps the inside of the hull can be reinforced with trussing in the vicinity of the cartholes to prevent the hull from deforming under its weight...?

Keith

I store my AI's right-side up but I have to support the back on wide straps or in this photo, pool noodles:

I also leave in my cart when loading one or two on my truck rack. I would think if you left enough space between the boats, you could leave the cart attached, ready to go.

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Hobie Island Sailing since 2006

Once with my Bic kayak I left it in the water in front of our house. After 10 days of being in the Sea of Cortez (4 x saltier than the ocean) I had to spend hours cleaning and scraping the bottom. That was not a good idea.

I just had a thought of making something like Home Depot uses for loading plywood vertically as a kayak rack. With a strap around the kayak I could then life one end at a time into our storage room easily. Has anyone ever tried to make a set of wheels to transport the kayak stored on its side instead of its bottom?

da,
Before I got a trailer I stored an Oasis and an Adventure side on, on a mechanics creeper:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10735

I am a new Outback owner and trying to fit it in my small garage with my car. I want to store it on its side, which works wonderfully, but it does not seem to be a recommended way to story Hobie kayaks according to the manual and FAQ on this site. I've been surfing around and see people hanging them with straps or brackets on their side and now I see this post.

The garage is a longish one car garage with very low ceiling, but is very cool, even in the summer.

Am I tempting fate storing it on its side? How would hanging on its side be any different?

Being a typical newbie not wanting to damage their new kayak I'm looking for input from those that have experience.

Thanks,
-Tom

Hobie does recommend storing their kayaks either upside down or on their side. In my case I tried using an auto creeper but it was not a success. The problem was that the wheels normally rotate 360 degrees and thus the creeper would slide out from the wall. I removed the creeper and simply leaned the kayaks against the wall until I return when I will try to figure out how to make the wheels rotate only a little bit or not at all. I would think that straps with the kayak on its side would be OK because the majority of the would be on the side and not the bottom. The wider the strap the better the weight will be distributed.

Where have you found that they recommend storing kayaks on their side? I've yet to find that.

Thanks,
-Tom

I'm not sure where it's found, maybe in the owner's manual? But either way, this is ok. Matt Miller has confirmed this to me in the past.

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It's not in the owner's manual, nor is it in the online FAQ. If this IS a sanctioned storage method, it would be nice for Hobie to acknowledge it in one or both of these areas.

Not that I don't trust you, it's just been a pain trying to find this information.

Take care,
-Tom

In the video that came with my oasis, they say it's ok to store on the side. You can find the video on YouTube too.

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2011 Oasis - Lunalilo Express
2012 Revo 11 - Lunalilo

Funny, I`m running out of storage space myself for all the water toys...

Yet I have a trellis than can mount this AI or a number of other toys on a `solid storage`solution.

Harken has the best solutions for line mounted storage systems. Consider this:

http://www.outdoorplay.com/Harken-Kayak ... age-System

If not, consider a solid mount system that you can prolly build yourself for cheaper costs as long as the load is evenly distributed and the boat(s) are out of the direct sunlight to prevent hull deformation.

(dang I envy your obvious sweet spot on the Sea of Cortez). May just see you soon, friend... (no, not creepy, I`ve grown to love Cabo (and up the east coast) and will probably buy a house there very soon)

Best regards Amigo
Trinomite

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Always looking for ways to make good things 'Gooder'

Storing on its side propted up against a wall is not a problem. I have been storing this way even during the off season with no marks or dents at all.

Johnny