getting ducks to water

well it feels like years of sanding but its only been about 3 month,and now how to get them to the water,I build two woodduck 12's and have a half ton truck.I have looked around and found multiple styles of cradles?but wich will have the most shock resistance,I would hate to get to the water to find a cracked boat from rough transport.The expense of two builds has limited my options as well most of the stores around here want big money just for the roof rack,For this reason i'll probably build a wooden structure in the back them just buy what i need to hold kayaks on to this.second duck should be ready by weekend if only i could get this problem figured out, help

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RE: getting ducks to water

I made 2 open boxes out of 1x6's with the top of each conforming with the shape of my Oxford Shell, one for the bow and one for the stern I padded  with the  pipe insullation stappled to the edge of the wood. Then I just strap the shell in place over these craddles with ratcheting tie down straps. My oxford shell is 20 ft long and I have safely transported it without damage.

RE: getting ducks to water

Your boats are a lot stronger than you think. I was worried about transport after I built my first ones also. In the bed of your truck, you don't need a rack or support. I put a pad (like a blanket) down first to keep from unnecessary scratches. I put 2 in just on their bottoms all the time and 4 in on their sides. Nothing bad has happened. I usually put something like a cushion between the boats. If you want something more under the boats, put in a piece of foam rubber. Make sure you put a flag on the end if it hangs out. Also make sure you tie them down well.

Just after I built my first one, there was a story in the CLC Newsletter about someone who had his boat come loose from the top of his car doing 70 miles an hour down the interstate. He went back to pick up the pieces and found all that had happened was a small crack in the cockpit coaming which he fixed with a little epoxy.

Go enjoy them! 

 

RE: getting ducks to water

Woodie's right - they're stronger than you think.

Here; what I use:

The base rack can be anything. In my case they're t-racs, but your wooden frame idea will be fine. For the actual support and shock isolation I made up some quick & dirty closed cell foam block with v-notches cut to fit the boat's bottom and used contact cement to attach them to the wood blocks.

Laszlo

 

RE: getting ducks to water

I have used a set up like Lazzlo's when car topping only I have just used a 12" x 12" piece of 4" thick foam between the bar and the boat. I have had no problems with this either.

RE: getting ducks to water

thanks for the help guys.What do you think of those J style cradles that the kayaks are on on angle.with the info you gave me I am realizing I would like to transport them on the car at some point maybe due to the price of gasoline

RE: getting ducks to water

J-cradles are nice if you can afford all the stuff needed to nail them on to your vehicle.  I use two old fashioned wooden roofracks with suction cup feet because they can be transfered from car to pickup and back again. To carry two boats I made longer crossbars. They are 62" across on this vehicle.

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?album=856&pos=1

To cushion the boats there are shaped closed cell foam blocks attached to the crossbars  but on a former setup all I had were wooden vee-blocks with ½" thick foam pads cut from an exercize mat. They worked great and the price was right.

http://gallery.bateau2.com/displayimage.php?album=333&pos=9

RE: getting ducks to water

Ross Leidy made some nice ones and he gives the directions on his forum at Blueheron Kayak.  Pretty slick looking to have wooden J-racks for a wooden yak.

KK

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