I just purchased a new 12' fishing Kayak since ive been wanting one for years now. I haven't picked it up yet due to waiting on my OEM roof rack to come in. Anybody have any experience in putting and driving a 12' Kayak on there MINI? Just looking for some pointers. Thanks.

 

I carry two on my clubman 8-10 times a year with out any hassles. Easy on easy off.

But check out the sizes some people are carrying here:
http://www.google.com/images?q=kayak...w=1680&bih=886

 

Ive seen the picks but I and decided it was doable, I was just looking for any pointers that I might want to know before picking it up.

 

1. Probably best if you have two people to load/unload the kayak as if the slightest gust of wind comes along you could be bumping the car with a sandy/dirty kayak.

2. Make sure Kayak is centered front to back over the cross bars

3. Make sure you use tie downs front and back. If they touch the hood in front use a piece of microfiber or something very soft between the ropes and body.

4. Make sure the straps that hold it to the cross bars are very tight.

5. If it not a flat top kayak then it would help to have a cockpit cover to ensure if you hit rain you do not get a lot of water inside the kayak. This could cause extreme extra weight.

That's about all I can think of right now. If i think of anything else I will post again.

 

Awesome, thanks for the info.

 

If you have a kayak with a cockpit, and you do not have a cockpit cover, then you can mount the boat hull up on the saddles. This will keep the water from collecting inside if it rains.

Definitely use front and rear tie downs. Get a second tow hook and install the two of them in the front and rear inserts, and then use these for your tie down points.

I carry one or two 17' sea kayaks on my Clubman, and have gone 500 miles with the boats mounted on top. No problems. (A small decrease in gas mileage, but you'd expect that.)

--
Darryl

 

Does anyone have experience using anything other than a tow hook? I have 2 12' kayaks and a dual kayak holder for the roof rack and if I use the tow hooks, there is asymmetry and I wasn't sure if that would cause an issue with transporting them. I was able to get them home by tying them down to whatever part of the frame i could get to but for trips over 3 minutes, I would like a more secure fitting.

Thanks in advance.

 

I just use the tow hooks. I must admit that I mount a single kayak on the passenger side to the tie-downs are more or less vertical, but I've had no problem with having the second boat over the driver's side with the tie-downs at an angle. As I said in a previous post, I've gone about 500 miles with the two boats tied down this way and have not noticed any issues.

I prefer using the tow hooks because they're not only easier to put a trucker's hitch on, but they're far enough away from the body that the tie-downs don;t threaten to rub on the body and abrade the paint.

--
Darryl

 

Having the front and back ends tied down to the car is just an extra precautionary item. Many states do not require it and it is really only there to keep them completely falling off if the other straps holding them down loosen up. Strapping to any other part of the car other than the tow hook could result in damage to the body panels if the Kayaks shift in any way.

Tieing to the tow hooks is also you best bet as there will be no rough edges of body panels to fray the tie down ropes.

EDIT: also the front and rear tie downs should not be really tight as that will cause undo stress on both the kayak and the rack systems. They should only be pulled just tight enough to get the slack out of the ropes.

 

Darryl,
Sounds pretty good to me; if you were able to drive 500 miles, then I should be all set. I'm going to order the tow hook today and I'll let you know how it works when I get a chance to try it out.

@ schatzy62 - I don't believe they are required here but it's for my own piece of mind. The two straps in the middle were pretty secure but the added little bit would be nice. And yes, I did limit how tight they were so I did not put undo stress anywhere on the system.

thank you both

 

I've only driven my pickup about 100 miles total since I bought the MINI over a year ago, mostly to take my fishing kayak to the lake and back