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Car Topping a Heavy PWC


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Hello everyone. I'm looking into buying a solo skiff or other small to add some range to my kayak fishing experience. I tore every ligament in my left knee last year and I just don't have anywhere close the range that I used to, nor will I ever. I'm basically looking for a boat that I can launch from the surf rather easily, using if for fishing or paddling baits out for sharks on the beach (I'd be selling my Hobie Outback because I'd never use it afterwards). The most notable part of this is I am limited in where I can store it. I live in an apartment, and will be for the next couple years, so it would have to be stored on top of my truck. I'm avoiding inflatable water craft because I simply don't trust being on a balloon miles off the coast. Does anyone know of ways that one could single handedly lift a 150lb kayak onto a rack?  I was thinking along the line of pulleys and skis. Also, if anyone knows of a craft that would be better, please add that too. Any and all advise is greatly appreciated.

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I have seen some outbacks with an electric motor. That would increase your range and help your knees.

You could look into a pickup truck? Stow kayak in the back bed? Some people have a thule hullavator

to make car topping easier. Or you could be a light weight kayak  and forget about the pedal drive.

Eddyline c14 would fit the bill. Good luck with your decision.

 

Edited by dbjpb
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Truck

Any society that charges it's own children for knowledge, is doomed to fail.

Whilst intelligence is not affected by geography, it is influenced by education, opportunity and drive.   

Now is the time to change our attitude towards blues, next year may well be too late (Somebody listened :th: )
Member of the Yellow Eyed Devils
May you never have to fish to live, rather live to fish.

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I have a truck, and I've put my outback on racks built into the cap, but I can't have 8ft of it hanging out of my bed at all times if were to transport it in the bed. I have nowhere to put it other than in either a storage unit (costs $) of the top of my truck. If I can, I'll keep it on my truck all the times. I played with the torqueeto option for a while, but I used to be able to cover 25+ miles in a day at minimum, and the range of the torqueeto doesn't come close to that in my  experience. 

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Sorry to hear about your injury, that sucks for a guy so young. I remember being impressed by your description of pedaling many miles offshore.  Since it sounds like you're pedaling days are over (correct that if it's wrong), Joe's suggestion of a light paddle kayak is pretty good. It seems to me that the heavy schlepping or pulling involved in battery powered kayaking would not be very good for your knee. 

 

A lot obviously depends on your budget, but there are boats between 40 and 70 lb that will perform quite well offshore once you build some paddling skills. Being young and an athlete I'm sure that you will do fine at that. As I've said before ad nauseam, paddling efficiently is not obvious, it takes some training to use your entire body instead of just your arms. Fortunately for you, the knee involvement is isometric.

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I use a combination of Yakima Sweetroll with a Yakima Showboat to self load a Hobie Outfitter on my 4Runner.  That's only 85 lbs, not 150.  How about a trailer, easier to load but storage is the issue.  Regarding storage - is renting an option?  3 of us living in apartments rented a garage to store motorcycles.  Sucked having to drive and find parking just to go for a bike ride, but it was worth it.   

"Endeavor to persevere" Lone Watie

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I have a solo and kayaks. Get an electric troller for your yak with lithium batteries. You would still have to put the motor inside with a solo...

 

I did see a guy cartop a bigrig the other day like it was nothing...he was only 30+ years younger and looked like a middle linebacker ;) ..solo is much heavier.  Unless you look like Arnold..

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On 12/14/2018 at 2:21 PM, thebandman said:

The most notable part of this is I am limited in where I can store it. I live in an apartment, and will be for the next couple years, so it would have to be stored on top of my truck. 

 If it were me, I wouldn't store anything on top of my truck permanently.

 

Not only do i not trust it to be there the next day but the sun & weather will take a toll on it....... wherever you drive you'll be forced to take it along.....

 

 

Don't you have a friend or relative in the area that would store something for you?

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