Guys....I need some honest advice. I've been wanting to get into kayaking for a while now, and right now I could probably afford one of moderate expense. My problem is I don't have a truck or an SUV. I drive a toyota camry and will probably be doing so another year or so at which time I'm thinking about a small truck.

Are there any halfways decent cartop carrier devices that work with a small car that are worth a flip? Something that's not too pricy, but works. If so, where should I look for such devices?

Man I really want to do this....I ain't getting any younger you know.

But if you guys think I'd be sorry to try and tote one on my car I'll take your advice and go get me a tube....and shut up and watch yall glide by while I flounder around in the weeds.

Duck, maybe ditch the Camry early and get the truck? A buddy of mine used a cartop rig and his biggest challenge was getting the yak on and off the carrier when alone, trying not to scuff the car. He sold his car and got a used truck.
Or, Google kayak gear and you'll find a bunch of it.
I have a WS Ride Angler edition. A little pricey, but I've had it 6 years and it's great.
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/119142.JPG

it depends on your yak i guess, im no pro but i can threo my feather lite onto to the top of a passat, all i do is throw a towel over the ends so i dont scratch the car, we use a modifed wind surf carrier that we got for fifty bucks, im no prow,(ive olny done this twice) but you shouldent have a problem if you get a lighter kay, but you should look at the kind of yak you need first then figur out how to get it on the car.

Thanks for the info guys. I really didn't know if it worked or not.
I'm a pretty big fella, and I'm not worried too much about being able to load one on top...and really Twotoes, after some thought I realize that a few scuffs on this car wouldn't bother me that much. It's been a great car, economical, runs great after many miles. But I've gotten my money out of it and then some, and it has an assortment of scuffs and dings already...courtesy of friendly parking lot folks who didn't want to bother me with repair hassles and insurance bothers. God bless em.

Why can't I just inherit a bunch of money from some lost uncle that I dislike? Would that be so wrong?

Guess I'll delve into this a bit deeper.
Anybody else got any opinions or ideas on this problem?
I'd bet I'm not alone in this prediciment.

I've not used one b/c I have a truck but academy sells a foam block and strap system and I think its less than $30 bucks. Should work fine and with a little sensible protection your car should be fine too.

I used the foam block strap system with a 85lbs canoe on top of a kia rio of all things. Very easy with two ppl, but dented the hell out of the car by myself. Also broke the drivers side mirror off when the wind decided to gust during lifting the canoe. But, I believe I probably could have taken greater care and avoided some damage. Also, a canoe is quiet a bit bulkier tham a yak.

Hey Dave,

No truck no suv, no problem. I am fairly new to kayaking also. I have two 13 foot wooden kayaks that I made. I completed the pair back in Oct 04. For their maiden voyage I threw them on top of my 99 Sentra and drove from Aledo Tx to Key West. On the nearly 4000 mile trip I never had a problem. I loaded the boats up with gear and luggage for additional storage room. When my wife had her Xterra I hated loading my kayaks on it, it was such a pain lifting the boats over my head. My boats weigh between 40 and 50 pounds each. I use a Sirus car rack that I bought from my neighbor; I just had to buy the �clips� so that it would fit my car. Sirus specializes in bike rack equipment but a little modification made it work. Thule and Yakima both sell racks for yaks that will fit your car. Go to their website and find out exactly what pieces you need then see if you can find them at eBay. Let me know if you want to see my rack system and I�ll post some pictures.

gober

Dave i have some help.

Thule makes a very good rack for a car.
All you need is the 400 universal feet, 50" bars and fit kit for your specific car. Fit kits = the rubber pads that go on the endof the 400 feet and the door clip clips that form to your car.

If you have a 2 door car, you will need the short bar adapter too.
I got mine for around 100 on ebay and you will need to shop the fit kit around. Message me and i can help you out.

Thule and Yakima do make specialized attachments for kayaks, but you do not need them. Go cheap. get some pads and straps to hold the kayak to the rack. you will need ropes that go to the end of each kayak though. This will stablize the kayak in the wind.

Today we had a 12' ocean 2 man kayak on my 2 door honda civic. Very stable at 70 mph.

craigs list: http://dallas.craigslist.org/for/279738910.html

ebay for thule rack: http://search.ebay.com/thule-rack_W0QQfromZR8QQssPageNameZWLRSQQsubmitsearchZSearch

Justin

Dave,
If you buy a used one, they are for the most part universal. Typically the only thing you need to worry about are the clips. This is the custom molded metal piece that clamps to your specific car. In other words you can buy any used Thule or Yakima rack then buy the specific clips you need. The clips for my sirus rack were about 20 bucks. Most rack systems have locks that secure the rack to your car.

gober

Thanks again guys. I am very encouraged by these post. Looks like it is definately do-able.

You made your own yak gober?
Cool, were you happy with them?

Yep Dave I built two of them, one for me and one as a gift for my twin that was getting out of the navy. I�ll post the link to a few pictures. I bought the plans from CLCboats.com and built them in my garage on the weekends. It was fairly inexpensive and with the stitch and glue technique you don�t need to be an expert wood worker.

My old ISP finally turned off my website that detailed the building process. I have been working on putting a new site together.

Unfinished
http://members.unitewireless.com/~michaelgober/images/P1030591.JPG
Bahia Honda Sate Park FL
http://members.unitewireless.com/~michaelgober/images/P1010240.JPG
Jonathan Dickinson State Park Maiden Voyage Me and My brother
http://members.unitewireless.com/~michaelgober/images/27547-R1-12-13A.jpg
Bahia Honda Sate Park at the Old Bridge
http://members.unitewireless.com/~michaelgober/images/27544-R1-19-6.jpg

gober

Dave, Yakima makes a terrific system called hully rollers. The whole system will easily set you back a couple of hundred bucks but if you don't mind spending the cash, they are well worth the money. I put them on my suburban and load and unload a 16' tandem ocean kayak by myself. I hauled the kayak from Montana to Port Aransas this year then all the way to California, Oregon and back to Montana without a single problem. They make mounts that will fit any vehicle. The only problem I had was someone tried to steal my kayak off the suburban one night. Fortunately I had the Yakima boat locker and the thieves only managed to cut the tie down straps. I know I sound like an add for Yakima, but I assure you I have no affiliation with them. I just found that though expensive, their products in my experience, are first rate

Nice work Gober. That's really cool. You plan on making another?
It would be fun to build one with all of the design features you wanted yourself.

I'll certainly check out the Yakima offerings Llama. I have been pondering on the use of rollers. Makes sense. Thanks.

Actually yes I do plan on another. I built one for me and one as a gift. When pricing out lumber I ran the numbers for a 3rd. It wasn�t going to cost that much more so I bought the lumber and cut all three boats out at once. The third boat, I wrapped all the pieces in black plastic and stored in my attic. I plan on building it this summer, that a way I don�t have to barrow my brothers boat when I go out with someone else.

I've a Liquid Logic Manta Ray 12 that I've been carrying on my little Kia Spectra 5 for the past 6 months - been working out fine and I've driven it fine beyond 70mph without front/rear tie-downs.
Started off just using the pads (similar to the ones that Academy sells), and only migrated to a Thule rack for convenience (faster loading/unloading). I think the pads can probably give better protection for the car, as you can place them pretty much anywhere on the roof, and then you can leave them on as you slide the yak off the roof.
I've the yak pads for the rack, however I've also considered ditching those, and putting on pipe insulation or pool noodle to the bars and carrying the yak upside for better airodynamics.

Anyways, the camry should be fine for carrying a boat, my recommendation would actually to keep the camry and use it as a weekend/boat carrying car and not care about getting dings/etc, and get another work vehicle when the time/money is right.

Good luck, and enjoy! its truely an addiction.