Carrying Kayaks on RIB

[Mike B]

All,

Hoping I can gleen some info from someones experience.

I am looking into how I can carry between 2 and 4 kayaks in/on the boat.

There are 3 options that I can think of.

1) laid across the boat on top of tubes, strapped down. (potential wear to tubes and higher centre of gravity)

2) I can fit one down either side of the console and if carrying 4 two would have to go across the tubes.

3) forget the idea stick the kayaks on the car and arrange to rendezvous somewhere and make the buggers paddle.

And before anyone suggests it I don't have the budget to upgrade to a Camel RIB

Is this covered in any way in the RYA safety boat course ?

Cheers

Mike

[Scary Des]

What about a trailer?

[Rogue Wave]

A nice camel rib would solve all your problems sir! (and bring you loads more)

[tim griffin]

Originally Posted by Mike B

Is this covered in any way in the RYA safety boat course ?

Cheers

Mike

in a nut shell no
the safety boat course deals with the taking of a casualty ashore in a hurry
eg hypothermia, or injury, or to recover a waterlogged canoe
most canoeist usually self rescue one of their number, the use of a rib is
as escort boat for carrying supplies(tents food, spare kit) and safetyfor longer expeditions, have you tried the British canoe union for some ideas
regards tim
www.griffmarineservices.co.uk

[Mike B]

Thanks Tim,

I'm an ex BCU Instructor and cannot remember anything they included re use of power boats - but will give them a try.

Cheers

Mike

[paul tilley]

buy some inflatable canoes and a 12v pump

[Bilge Rat]

Mike

I've carried my Kayak both down the inside and across the tubes at the back, had aways thought if i were to carry more than one i'd lay them across the back of the tubes stacked as best i could and strap them down in some way. I did recovering and towing a swamped kayak on my safety boat course.

Richard

[Jelly]

Mike
From memory its not part of the standard safety boat course, though Jon Mendez will give you the best info on whats current.
When I was teaching at Plym Uni we used to cover it as we worked with the canoe club on a few things, just one of those little local extras.

You can do a modified 'T' reascue if your bow is low enough, if fellow canoeists haven't got there first and they usually do. ( Rib comes up to the canoe pointing to the cockpit, so it looks like a 'T' from above and a crew member reaches down and grabs the person in the cockpit. MAKE sure that the person it the bow is securly in the boat as the canoist is taught on a canoe 'T' rescue to grab and pull them selves up - could pull the bow person out!!

Though the best use was to act as a mother boat, with the boat length and with two people you can empty the canoe out by lifting one end then the other, whilst the boat is along side. Don't try to stand it on its end and piviot boat across the tubes if its full of water you'll break the canoe .
Hope it helps
James

[Bilge Rat]

Jelly Mike's a BCU instructor so he's going to know how to recover a swamped Kayak besides this his original question was about securing the kayaks whilst in transit on the RIB not rescue !
I'm assuming Mike wants to transport the kayaks to a destination rather than have a long paddle ? therefore wanted to know the best way to tie the boats on the RIB.

My safety boat course as well at dingies also covered kayaks, windsurfer rescue and we had a demo and lecture from the local kite surfing shcool who lent us a training kite to practice recovering from the water.

[Mike B]

Thanks all.

Think I'll give it a try with the lot on the tubes at the back. I'll have to put some protection on the tubes and see how this affects the trim of the boat.

Cheers

Mike

[simmons0]

Ive carried a few kayaks around, addmitedly never over a long distance but ive trailed 3 kayaks for 100 miles if that counts.

I found the best way was to tie 1 kayak on top of the tubes on each side, straped both to the internal and external lifelines. The third which is a very short play boat i laid across the back of the boat and strapped to the floor and a-frame.

[overexposed2x]

I have a 7 meter that I use to photograph sea kayaks from. Sorry I don't have any photos, but will try to explain what I have done.
I have a custom built "A" frame that is nearly 7' tall. It is made out of 2" alluminium tubing and is welded to 1/2" by 4" wide by 36" long plate. This in turn is bolted into the deck at the front and rear with four stainless bolts each. There is also a piece that follows the transom, welded and gusseted to the bottom and then is bolted through the transom with 3 bolts on each of the port and starboard side. From the stern uprights to the front uprights there is a span of 36". The vertical uprights have been bent to so as to follow the contor of the tubes, then they are bent back toward one another leaving a gap of about 18". This gap is conected with the same 2" tubing but I have plates on it where my nav. lights, radio antena, gps antena and some day where radar will be mounted. Coming off of the uprights I have attached posts that come out horizontally. Each post is made of 1.5" stock and extends roughly 18". There are three sets of posts to each side allowing me to carry up to six sea kayaks very comfortably. In the stern I have reinforcement bars going from Port to Starboard - one horizontal between each upright and two going 45 degrees from its center to each top corner. On each side (Port and Starboard) I have one horizontal tube that goes bow to stern and has been placed 18" - 24" above each tube. All main conections are gusseted with 1/4" plate. The whole thing was powder coated with 2 layers for extra durability.
On all points where the kayaks touch I have put 1/4" foam. One side having adhesive for easy placement.

This rack is the second one I had built. The first resembled a car rack with 6' legs. It was made with 1" tubing and self destructed on it's maiden voyage in 6' high seas with in an hour. The one thing that I will recommend is to over build it. Use at least 2" stock! Even mounting this at the stern there is still alot of sheer. Make sure that the welder does not clean up the welds either. Grinding the welds to make them smooth will diminish their strength by at least 50%. The current rack has been out in bigger seas with a full load and has yet to have any problems at all. The only thing that is a pain is securing the kayaks. At this point I use cam staps since I can get them tight thus preventing the boats from moving on the rack. Perhaps another way is to use jam cleats. I may try that on the top mounted boats. Also no matter how sweet and strong your rack is, with a full load in seas you will have to slow down. The kayaks don't come cheap if we are talking about fiberglass and they will chafe or worse show stress fractures in the gel coat.

Hope this helps