Kayak

[MMMdude]

Anyone into kayaking? If so, what kind of kayak and car/rack do you have? I have heard people have used foam blocks ok on any standard sedan. Where do you store it when not in use? What about inflatables. Eliminates the storage and hauling issues but i could see the inflating becoming a real chore

[Parizade]

I love my inflatable Sea Eagle, but it's not as fast as a hard shell -- annoying when you are kayaking in a group.

I also love my Dagger Axis, which is a recreational hybrid so I can use it on lakes or rivers. It's faster than the inflatable but twice the weight.

I use a Thule roof rack and saddles, which work great but were more expensive than the kayak.

[I'm a red panda]

We have two kayaks, one single one tandem. They are stored on the garage walls, my husband rigged a pully system to hold them.

We carry them on foam blocks if it's on the Civic, the escape has a roof rack and we have mako saddles made by Yakima. The rollers on the saddles make it really easy to get the boat up. The saddles only go on the car when we take the kayak out.

[MMMdude]

The other thing i ponder about permanent roof racks is what is the impact on gas mileage over the years?  I would think it's not insignificant.

[gooki]

5% reduction in milage if you use the square roof bars, plus the noise of square bars is annoying.  I now use Rola's aerodynamic roof bars that fit between the existing roof rails on both my Subaru Impreza and Mazda 6 station wagons. Quiet, no significant reduction in milage, look good.

Hauling a plastic 1+1 sit on fishing kayak. My parents have a two person inflatable. Inflating isn't too hard, but speed an manuverability on the water is sufficiently impacted that I'd recommend a hard shell.

I have brackets on my garage wall that hold the kayak and windsurfer.