TRANSPORTING YOUR HOBIE KAYAK
One of the easiest ways to transport your Hobie kayak is to purchase a roof rack from your dealer. This normally involves a set of crossbars that attach to the car via the rain gutters or adapter clips mounted to the doorframe.
They come with a wide variety of attachments from kayak saddles to stackers. The racks can be used without the attachments but the racks should be padded. To help prevent distortion, place the kayak, cockpit side down, on top of the rack. It is best if the crossbars contact the cockpit sides and not the deck areas. Straps can then be laid across the boat and tied to the bars. Saddles cradle the boat and often come with their own straps. Stackers allow multiple boats to be placed on their sides without falling over.
An alternative to traditional rack systems is a soft rack. They tend to be less expensive and will work with most cars. These are pads mounted on straps that sit between the kayak and the roof of your car. Some styles have a strap that wraps around the kayak and others strap the pad to the roof. To tie the boat to the car, straps are run through the car doors and the boat is tied to the roof as well as the bumpers, front and rear. Over-tightening the straps may cause dents in the roof of the car.
A line run from the bow and stern of the boat to each bumper is required. If your bumpers do not have a gap to pass a rope around, look underneath. There should be a loop of metal, which is used by car transports such as tow trucks.
Many people like to use the scupper holes to tie the boat to the car. This helps prevent the boat from sliding back and forth or the tie down rope from slipping off the kayak. This is a perfectly acceptable method for tying the boat down.