The problem of carrying the Adventure Island on the roof racks is two fold. One getting it up on the racks in the first place easily and safely, and two how to carry and secure it.
I solved the problem in getting it up by purchasing a Rock 'n Roll bar for my Thule sports bars but found like Chrisj posted earlier, it is a difficult job to get the hull up in the already inverted state. The boat wants to turn over and if you can manage that there is the real concern of damaging either the car or the roof bars with the aka braces. The easier method was to lift it up right way up then invert it up there. This in itself led to damaging the rubbers in the bars as I re-positioned the inverted hull on the racks for balance. Not a happy camper.
This led me to lifting the boat right way up and tieing it down in that state with Hobie straps. Great way to do it except that the pressure from the tight straps forced the bottom to distort where it came in contact with the roof bars. I carried it around like this a couple of times but did not like the possible consequences of hull distortion or worse over an extended period.
I looked at the dedicated kyak 'clamps' but I don't think they are really suitable for the AI hull, and restricts the racks being used for carrying other stuff.
Now my solution which I have trialled for a couple of weeks and several trips of several kilometers is to built two soft 'Pirate Pillows' that go between the hull and the racks. These both support the hull across all its full width and take the pressure when the straps are pulled down tight without any distortion of the hull. They also provide grip between hull and racks and I have only needed to secure the hull with the hobie straps and not secured it front or rear so far. I may tie a front bow strap down to the car for the 200 mile trip to Mallacoota on the weekend, just to be safe.
Both ' pirate pillows' are made out of the insulation foam tubing that is commonly used in the air conditioning industry. It is reasonably inexpensive easily obtainable. The foam is very durable in this application and will not hold a memory and will take its original shape after a short time of a load being taken off it. The foam tubing I used is approx. 110mm in diameter and 30mm in section and slit down its length so it will fit over each rack. Each 'pirate pillow is 530mm in length with additional width at the ends with an additional 100 mm of the foam tubing super glued to the one below effectively giving it a thickness of 60mm there. The superglue loves this stuff and is instantly glued on contact. Now this arrangement with 60mm thickness on the ends for a 100mm then 30mm in the centre is just perfect for the shape of the bottom of the hull at the areas where the roof racks will be.
The above is a diagram shows its shape. Here are some photos of it on my car. You need to pull down tight on them to compress the foam after which the hull will not move around at all.
The above shows the pirate pillows immediately after the boat has been removed. The foam very quickly goes back to original shape.
You can even use these very same pirate pillows on your storage racks like I do.
I strap the two amas together face down on the same racks beside the hull using two more Hobie straps for which there is plenty of room
So far I am very happy with this inexpensive fix, approx $40 total, which allows me the freedom to carry the boat upright allowing me to leave the seat and some gear in the boat without salt water dripping all over the car on the way home from a great day out Hobie Adventure Islanding...Pirate
Just thought I would repeat this item as the pirate pillows are a real winner. No need to ever go to the trouble and drama of inverting the boat up on the racks ever again and possibly damage the rubber rack inserts when you can just build some pirate pillows and travel with her right way up. Just back from Mallacoota, some 300 ks away from Bairnsdale. On the way down I put a bow line attached to the car grill just to be sure, with no movement at all at 100kph. On the way back, removed the front line, again no movement at all. The boat travels like a dream without front or back lines, no hull distortion when pulling the straps down tight, and soooooo easy to load. Also not nearly as much salt water gets on the car as dont have dripping seat etc. which you can leave in the boat. An all round fantastic success and I highly recommend car toppers make themselves a set of two. Mickey even suggested using them as real pillow on our camping trip as they would work for that purpose too... Pirate
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