Crazy idea: What about a Adventure island on a pickup truck

I saw this picture that Roadrunner posted and it got me thinking. Currently, it is trailered. I don't think I am utilizing it to its full potential because I am limited to bodies of waters near boat ramps. I don't want to put it on top of the cab because it is too heavy for me, but if i could some how balance it on the bed of the pickup, it would be awesome. I was planning to buy a pickup anyway. Do you guys think it is feasible?

Guys have been carrying canoes and jon boats like this for years.

Notice the extra support for the hull. Two straps are needed to prevent the boat from pre-mature launching (some people call this when the boat falls out the back of the truck). Items in the bed that are loose can fall out. Red light and/or red flag are needed, depending upon state law and enforcement attitudes.

Make sure with your auto insurer that your boat will be covered. If you have any sort of person hit you in the rear, your boat will be trash. Fortunately your boat will not go through a windshield.

Jim Clark-Dawe

Premature launch, ha. I had one of those on the boat ramp.

So lets say that the trucks bed is 5 feet and the hobie is 16 feet, then the boat is sticking out 11 feet behind the back of the truck. That would mean that I would need about a 3 foot bed extender bar/hitch just to have 1/2 the boat balanced. Also it's gotta be hard to make turns, correct? Anyone have experience with this.

If you have a three-foot bed extender, you can run a couple of 2 x 4 from the front of the bed to the boat that are about 12' long. That should provide plenty of support for your boat.

I had a friend who did a pre-mature launch of a jon boat on an interstate. Fortunately the boat was aluminum and only added a few more dents and some scrapes. Good thing he didn't have the motor on it.

Tail swing is going to be significant. Drive carefully to the nearest big parking lot when it is fairly empty. Then practice with something you can easily knock over with the boat. You can use a stick pained bright orange stuck in a plastic milk bottle. A little bit of sand in the bottle will weigh it down enough so it doesn't fall over on its own. Practice until you know where the tail end of your vehicle is. Good maneuvers are parallel parking, and a serpentine course, both forward and in reverse. On the road, where the swing will matter is going around intersections.

Make the back of your boat as clear as possible. Drivers have a hard time seeing thing.

Jim Clark-Dawe

I routinely carry a 12' and 14' kayak in the bed of my 06 colorado crew cab. I use a bed extender and it works great. It is much easier to drive around with kayaks sticking out the back than it is to pull a trailer. My one recommendation is to get a bed extender that angles up away from the ground. Mine comes straight out of the hitch, and then bends 90 deg up at the end. As a result the extender drags across the pavement everytime I pull in or out of my driveway. I don't think it would be any issue to move a 16' kayak in the same manner.

Tips for loading the bed of a midsized truck: Make sure at least part of the cargo is in or over the bed, then use lots of ratchet straps to secure.

Alternatively, kayaks seem to sit nicely atop any F-body.

I carry my 2015 AI in the bed of my pickup using a bed extender like that. As suggested, I use two straps; one the holds the hull to the extender, and one that holds the bow down going across the bed from the rear cleats. My truck is a 2010 F150 with a standard bed. For me, that means the front strap crosses just over the drive well, and the rear strap is just aft of the rear aka bar. The front strap is run through the handles of the amas, and the rear ama bungees are looped over the button that the aka brace normally attaches to. I use the bed extender that Harbor Freight sells. Although I have had the problem of scraping it on the pavement when going up or down inclines, it hasn't bothered me too much yet. I do live in FL, though, and so my story might be different if I lived somewhere that the elevation changed. You have to be conscious of the added length, but I don't find turning to be a significant challenge.