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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 7:50 pm 
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Finally I have the opportunity to buy an AI and now am faced with working out transportation. I am faced with having to car top on my Jeep Liberty and am wondering if anyone is currently doing this on a regular basis. If so can you please post exactly what you are using.
I have been for an AI "test drive" but have no idea how much the hull weighs as I only saw it fully rigged. I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to get it onto the Jeep roof without dislocating my shoulder. I have read several posts and am concerned (maybe overly so) about damaging my new craft during transportation. The crazy thing is that our friends at Chrysler have designed the roof bars so that my Tule cross bars can only be a max distance of three feet front to back. Supporting three feet apart seems kind a short on a sixteen foot hull shold I be concerned?

Car to beach is also undecided for me, plug in cart vs strap on, love to hear your advice.

Thanks,
Pete.

PS Sorry if this is a topic that comes up often, I have tried searching for an answer but can't seem to find what I'm looking for.


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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:22 pm 
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Pete,

I don't have an AI, but I carry a regular Adventure on top of my Dodge Dakota w/camper shell. It weighs just over 60 pounds. Not a big deal for me to throw up top, as long as I take my time. I know that Yakima makes extenders or stretch kits for bars that are spaced close together. Maybe Thule does too. I made a kayak cart from a Wilson golf bag cart. I've heard too many bad things about scupper carts.

Bob

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 11:40 pm 
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I am waiting for My TI to come (September); however, I have researched this to death. I am putting my TI on the roof of my Subaru liberty sedan with a goal post connected to the towbar. Attached is a you tube thread http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqQsNi_3ggQ I think this will make it quite nice to pop my TI an the roof. But I will have tio wait until September until I know for sure :D

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:10 am 
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Location: Wilmington, North Carolina
I load my AI hull solo on the roof of a Honda Element with yakima crossbars and a Thule Slipstream 887XT. Makes it easy to get it on the roof without lifting more than 50% of its weight and spreads out the load much better than the narrow yakima bars and the rear sliding roller is great to protect the car rear. It is $270 but for solo loading and unloading without a trailer I have not found anything better or cheaper. I put the AMA's on J cradles next to the hull. I don't have any Photos funnily enough.......

http://www.thule.com/en-GB/US/Products/Watersports/WatersportCarriers/196658.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsjDL8Y7MtM&feature=related

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:27 am 
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JetJester wrote:
....The crazy thing is that our friends at Chrysler have designed the roof bars so that my Tule cross bars can only be a max distance of three feet front to back. Supporting three feet apart seems kind a short on a sixteen foot hull shold I be concerned?

Car to beach is also undecided for me, plug in cart vs strap on, love to hear your advice.


You're right, three feet is tight, but we take our AI and Revolution on our Honda Civic with Yakima bars, and they have to be set just 30 inches apart. The solution that we found was Yakima Mako Saddles. Instead of your boat taking the forces of the bumps, the saddles do as well. Then use a bow and stern line to keep the saddles from flexing so much. It's very important to remember that the bow and stern lines are just there to keep the boat from bouncing too much on the suspension like saddles. They should be snug, but NOT tight. That's what will cause the boat to fail. The saddles actually work VERY well as a suspension to keep the forces of the road from getting to the kayak. By creating a gentle ride for the kayak, the boat is much less likely to face a problem. I do think that these boats are tougher then some people say, but it's important to follow Hobie's guidelines for storage and transport. Technically they recommend that the AI is transported on it's side or upside down, but given my 30 inch situation, by far the most gentle ride for the boat is with the Mako saddles.

As for your second question, I used to have a strap on cart for my traditional kayak, while my wife would use the plug in cart for her Revolution. The straps are time consuming and a pain in the butt compared to the plug in carts! When I bought the AI, there was no question which cart was the best for me. The plug in cart is the way to go in my opinion. I chose the Heavy Duty cart, but there are pro's and con's to each. I wish that I had beach wheels to make it easier to roll the cart on the beach, but at the same time, I almost always insert my wheels while still on the water, and it would be nearly impossible to push the beach wheels under the boat while sailing, so the HD wheels are a good compromise of being able to roll over almost anything, but still be relatively easily pushed under the boat.

Finally, when it comes to loading your boat on the roof, there are a number of posts by Roadrunner and others which talk about loading a tandem island onto a pickup truck with raised racks. There used to be a video on YouTube of a guy loading an Adventure kayak onto a Subaru. I can't find it right now, but there are others who can help you with a technique. It's not impossible, and some have managed to make it look quite easy. When push comes to shove, I'm able to load my AI on the roof of my Civic without any help, simply by muscling the whole boat at one time. It's a heavy boat, but it's not unmanageable.

Hope that helps.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:29 am 
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What about the Kargo Master? I have seen a jeep with one before, and it looked like it had more than 3ft of room.

http://www.kargomaster.com/item.asp?id=62


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 1:17 pm 
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Thanks to all for your comments. Clearly the big brand rack suppliers are on the case and provide a whole range of equipment designed to help me so long as I part with a reasonable chunk of cash.
Most of the roof equipment have the Kayak right side up by I have seen a number of comments about carrying upside down. Are the upside down comments on the forum based on strapping the AI directly to the roof bars and not to some kind of curved support like used in the Thule Slipstream 887XT?

dregsfan Bob, what kind of bad things have you heard about scupper carts?

When I went for a test sail at Lake Tahoe a couple of weeks back we used a regular kayak cart. Yes it was a pain to strap on and off but I like the idea of bringing the cart forward from the scupper holes to allow me to balance the AI a little more and have less strain on me when moving.......does this seem reasonable or is the balance thing far outweighed (sorry no pun intended!!) by the usabilityof the scupper cart?

Thanks again for your support
Pete.


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:22 pm 
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Location: Polk City, Fl.
JetJester wrote:
Car to beach is also undecided for me, plug in cart vs strap on, love to hear your advice.


Pete;

I use a trailer for transport, but wanted to say that I bought with my TI the heavy-duty plug in cart and used it for a time. The trouble of getting it plugged in on the return was a pain. I went with the “C-Tug Kayak Cart”. It has a weight rating of 300lbs and wide pads for the hull. It also has straps attached to the cart so on the return trip I can just slip the straps around the back and pull the cart under the water and to the position on the hull I want it then tighten the straps and I am done. No having to get both arms under the hull to line up the holes. I can do it sitting in the kayak, Amas in or out. I have been using it for over a month and feel that its one of the best things I have added.

Anyway here’s the link to where I got it.
http://www.fishingtackleunlimited.com/p ... olley.html

Good luck and full sails.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:35 pm 
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JetJester wrote:

When I went for a test sail at Lake Tahoe a couple of weeks back we used a regular kayak cart. Yes it was a pain to strap on and off but I like the idea of bringing the cart forward from the scupper holes to allow me to balance the AI a little more and have less strain on me when moving.......does this seem reasonable or is the balance thing far outweighed (sorry no pun intended!!) by the usabilityof the scupper cart?



You raise a good point about being able to move the cart forward of the scupper holes. If weight is a concern, that's your best option. I find that when I transport the kayak on the cart, that you can lighten the load a little bit by putting all of the accessories and mirage drive as far back in the kayak as possible. For me the problem of weight isn't so much in your hand as it is in just moving the boat up a hill or on soft beach sand. It's the overall weight to pull around that can be more difficult, and that won't be solved by using a regular car. But if weight in your hand is the concern, go with the other cart and live with the straps.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 6:05 am 
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JetJester wrote:
dregsfan Bob, what kind of bad things have you heard about scupper carts?

The scuppers are considered the weakest point of a boat. Pulling a kayak over rocks, curbs, etc puts stress on that area. This has caused cracking in some boats. Other people have no trouble at all. I prefer a strap cart, which I can use on my sea kayaks as well.

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 2:39 am 
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Pete,
A good quality cart is essential for easy loading/unloading.
I'm a big fan of the Hobie scupper carts and have wheeled my kayaks hundreds of kilometres in the last 3 years without problems. They are much easier to use than a strap on cart and the new cart keeper pin is a great idea that simplifies unloading.
The latest Trax2 cart with its much longer posts and wider stance is great for launching but as Larry reports it is difficult to insert on the water when returning. I too have ordered the C-Tug cart in the hope I can stay a bit drier (it's winter here) when dragging my TI from the water. I'm sure the scupper carts will still get the most use though. :)
This post may help
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14028


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 3:06 am 
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I carry the AI hull on the slipstream 887xt just as the cradles
Are holding the bottom. I don't think upside down would work. I was more concerned about spreading the lengths of the load of a 16ft hull than the factory 32 in Honda factory roof rack points would offer. The design of the slipstream puts those cradles out much further. Plus the slider and roller allows me to load alone without damaging a tall vehicle or killing my back either. I have not had any hull distortions with this rack system that I can see

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 6:15 am 
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I have a Thule roof rack on my Jetta. The Thule installation manual requires my cross bars to be 30" apart front to back. Is that enough for an Adventure Island then? A lot of you guys in this posting seem to be a little nervous with that spread. I carry the AI upside down and it SEEMS to be OK with everything tied down front to back. Am I asking for trouble here?


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 7:22 am 
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My Civic has the crossbars 30 inches apart, but I don't think I'd carry the boat upside down on just the cross bars. When you hit bumps, or even crosswinds, the force on that boat is going to be pretty high. I've posted above in this thread about using the Yakima Mako saddles. It does mean that I have to mount the boat on its hull instead of upside down, but these saddles act as a suspension system to hold the kayak. You can limit the amount of up and down movement of your AI by using a snug (but not tight) bow and stern line. These saddles allow the boat to be cushioned over bumps. It takes a minute or two to get used to seeing the boat move a tiny bit as you travel (in up and down motions) but it can't come loose, and when you see how the system works, you're happy to see that movement.

I'm not sure there's a perfect solution to putting an AI on bars separated by 30 inches, but it's more a matter of doing the best you can with what you have. Personally, I'd be nervous about putting my boat on the roof with no "suspension" type system under the boat. I haven't had any hint of problem in my travels with this system. I do think that the boats are a little bit tougher then some people on these forums let on, but we've all heard horror stories where boats are very innocently damaged even with seemingly good care. I don't worry, as I've seen no need to worry, but others feel differently.

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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2010 9:23 am 
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What is the danger again of the upside down Adventure Island on cross bars only? It seems to me that the 'gunnels' of the boat are very rigid and strong.....and if lashed down well to the bars that there would not be much shock to the system even if you hit a bump, as the AI would stay tied firmly to the crossbars, no?


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