Ceiling mounted kayak storage...

[jbdba01]

Due to this I (we) had a little extra time on my hands to knock out the honey do list and get my kayaks out of the way. Previously they went under the stinkpot - so every time I moved her it was a major hassle.



NOTE : the manufacturer of the kayak recommended against using the handles on the bow and stern for hoisting it (RTFM). Instead it recommended using tie downs about 1/3 of the way down the kayak to spread the load. I put mine at roughly where the thwarts are. If you hoist by the handle over time you could deform your kayak.

Not much to it and I'm sure it's been done before; it cost me about $5 to buy the eye bolts - I could only find 2 7/8" ones (lowes); longer would have probably been better. They were rated for 150# each - so they were complete overkill. I probably have 15-25# of load on each eyebolt. I had 4 older tie downs (lowes) laying around - I only used the clamp end as the nylon webbing wasn't long enough, and I actually had about 50-100' of 1" nylon webbing laying around (ebay). So for me it was $5 out of pocket - I'm guessing it would be about $25 per hoist.

Pretty simple stuff - find studs; pre-drill about 3/4" in. Screw in eye bolt - use screwdriver for leverage. Tie one end of webbing to one eye bolt; loop around kayak on ground, back up to clamp allow plenty extra on the down side. Once hoisted throw extra into kayak.

The higher the hoist, the less impact on lighting.

Added benefits:

• Drops straight down on the truck - no more lifting it up to the roofrack.
  
  Built in work table for working on the kayak.
  
  No more crud under the power boat and I can blow out the garage easily.

I'm tall enough to use a step ladder to let them down, but most of the time I just use the wheel well/tire of the truck.

I do have issues with a bunch of French clowns trying to get in my garage though.

[UrbanLegend]

That's a pretty nice setup. Are you able to drop on top of the car and roll out of the garage?

[jbdba01]

On the Wilderness yes - on the Islander (white) no. Hence the Wilderness is centered to the vehicle. When lowering the boat on the roof, to get that spot on left/right I just line up my inside rear entry light to the dive flag. I stand on the tires to lower it and done.

It's pretty easy to line up on the roof rack backwards/forwards. I made sure the kayak made it out without banging anything and then took a permanent marker to the kayak. Center that line on the roof rack crossbar (I used the 4runner which has crossbars - not pictured) and out you go. It's nothing fancy but it works.

If not properly aligned the bow handle on the Wilderness will hit. It has to be about 6-12" farther back then where I normally put it. When aligned properly it rolls right out with about 2 cm to spare. Technically it hits the garage door rubber gasket, but not the door header.

[rugrat181]

That looks like a great solution for my kayak. Currently it sits on a table at the back of the garage. Takes up a lot of room. If I get it done I will post my copy of your effort
Thanks for the idea !!!

Dave S

[jbdba01]

The only thing I might modify is swapping out a hook on the eye ring where it is knotted down. Then using a bowline knot leave a loop for the hook.

This would allow me to just slide the webbing under the kayak when it's on the roofrack. Currently I have to loop the webbing over the bow/stern. My problem is/was that I have two kayaks up there so with about 4-6" in between - getting to that hook would be a pain. If I had one I would give it a whirl.

As a heads up - the way I hoist it is pull up on the bow, hoist it, pull up on the stern hoist it. The boat is pretty light when lifting either bow/stern - even when overhead. Repeat until done. This allows it to be a one man job. Probably takes 4-5 iterations.

Due to the friction on the boat, when you hoist it the kayak will want to tip - not bad enough to flip, but it's makes the job harder. Frankly I didn't want to put a bunch of stress pulling up/down on the eye bolt. This just has it holding the kayak up - versus being a point of a bunch more load. It could probably take it - but no reason to find out.

If you want to hoist it up just pulling (and not lifting the boat) - make sure the eye bolts are REALLY secure. Get a piece of 2" pvc and run the webbing through it. I would make the pvc 1-2" longer than where you plan on putting it - put the pvc under the kayak and there won't be any friction on the boat. I'm thinking the heavier less flexible PVC - I forget the schedule, but I think it's 80. No guarantees but I thought about trying that that.

One thing to look out for - double joists. If you happen to hit the "seam" of that double joist the eye bolt will go in, but not as secure.

Don't use the scupper holes for hoisting the kayak up - they aren't made for that.

You may want to check out hoist kits - I don't recall the price - I want to say about $75. They looked like a pain to install too. I just had a bunch of parts laying around, time, and some beer.

Probably more info than you wanted, but it'll save you some time. Next week - how to make a watch...

[Manning]

At my prior house I also used eye bolts and then used ropes with ratchet blocks on them. However I only use one eye bolt at each end as I hung the kayak by the fore and aft handles. I also used the lift and pull approach to raising the boat to minimize weight on the bolts in the ceiling. I considered adding sum pulleys to get more mechanical advantage, but then I needed more rope.

[jbdba01]

At my prior house I also used eye bolts and then used ropes with ratchet blocks on them. However I only use one eye bolt at each end as I hung the kayak by the fore and aft handles. I also used the lift and pull approach to raising the boat to minimize weight on the bolts in the ceiling. I considered adding sum pulleys to get more mechanical advantage, but then I needed more rope.

I was going to use two eye bolts but when I read the below I reconsidered. Def easier - I suspect that it would probably be OK, but I didn't want to take chances. I'm too "by the book" sometimes. Course I also calibrate my drag on poon using a scale... for the record 25% of the weakest component (line, leader...) then back off 5 clicks...then put the smack down after the initial run.

I know I know... I need help.

[fishpirate]

[Sully]

I purchased a ceiling mount system intended for bicycles. Worked perfect and no engineering required.

[jbdba01]

Here's a cheapie. $7. Rated to 44lbs. I suspect if you beef up the lag bolts it would be fine. Use at your discretion. The rig I have is over-engineered.

Manual here.

[Rik]

Rated to 44lbs. I suspect if you beef up the lag bolts it would be fine.

It isn't the mounting that is rated to 44, it is the pulleys and hooks.

These are $4 a pair and are rated to 200 pounds. (click on the pic). Use that bicycle pulley system as a model to build one that is strong enough. Have to consider the value of whatever is under the raised kayak!

[jbdba01]

Especially on your wife's sunroof! That's just a can of whoop ass waiting to be opened (As wonderboy says "32oz at that").

Hence my over engineering.

Regardless - WYSIWYG.