Transporting your Boat
Carrying your Kayak/Canoe to the waterside:
Carrying your boat can be hard work and if not done right can cause injury. Using other people to help can avoid this. (many hands make light work!) however this isn’t always possible. Using a trolley can make things so much easier. Below you will see pictures of trolleys.
A canoe trolley is just a bigger version of a kayak trolley. The boat is best attached to the trolley around two feet from the centre of the boat.
There are also Sit on Top trolleys availble – the design of these trolleys utilise the scupper holes present on a sit-on-top kayak. The two upright metal prongs of the trolley pass up into the scupper holes on the kayak, holding the trolley in place.
We do not recommend these for larger sit on top kayaks due to the risk of damaging the scupper holes and would recommend a canoe trolley instead.
Transporting your Kayak on your car
A Single Kayak
A single kayak can easily be transported using a standard roof rack for your vehicle, see the image below.
Multiple Kayaks
Multiple Kayaks are best strapped on with uprights. This avoids you form stacking kayaks on top of each other as they rest nicely on their side and so avoids damage or warping being created.
See our choice of uprights here.
Canoes
The simplest method to transport a canoe is upside on its gunwales. If you have a small car we also recommend you tie the front and back of the car down.
Dos and Don’ts of transporting a boat
Do’s
- Check your roof bars are high quality and are securely on your roof
- Use high quality straps like these
- Check your straps for wear and tear and make sure they get replaced if there’s any doubt
- Use some padding between your Kayaks and Bars like this
- Tie of the end of your straps
- If there is an overhang (between 1m and 2m) pop something clearly visible on the back of your boat.
Don’ts:
- Don’t forget to check your overall height. Especially think about car parks with height barriers!
- Avoid using ratchet straps. These can be easily over tightened causing damage to your boat.
- Don’t use ropes of bungees to strap your kayak down
Still unsure? Watch this helpful clip form Pyranha kayaks for extra advice.
Increase The Lifespan Of Your Kayak By Transporting It Correctly from Pyranha on Vimeo.
Protecting your Kayak from Theft
Unfortunately canoes and kayaks left on car roof racks can be targeted by opportunist thieves. Ultimately the best thing to do, where possible, is to limit how long you leave your boats on the roof especially when your vehicle is out of site.
We do recognize sometimes this isn’t possible, and so for those occasions, recommend the Playboater Rack Guard. This is simple to use one end has a steel eye and the other end has a plastic ball. Simply feed the steel eye through an attachment point on the kayak/canoe and then feed the ball through the eye. Once this is done place the ball through the car door frame as close to the hinge as possible.