Both Kayaks on the rack

We purchased a couple of Native Watercraft Manta Ray 11 Kayaks last month for fishing and paddling fun.  While we could just toss the yacks into the truck bed and go on our way, that prevents filling the truck with the other ton of stuff needed to chase a 5 oz. fish.  (Fishermen will understand, others will not.)

Anyway, on with the tale.  In anticipation of wanting to travel with the yacks overhead, I began looking at “Official” kayak racks for pickup trucks.  Bars, cradles and the like sort of overwhelmed me and as I began to contemplate paying more for the rack than the kayaks AND since I have about half of the Federal deficit already invested in fishing stuff, I just couldn’t see adding another grand to the total and began to look for more affordable options. When we bought our kayak I found a very helpful website on how to store a kayak in the garage.

A visit to Amazon.com turned up this Ladder Rack for only $106 bucks and free shipping.  The rack arrived and was easy to install, built like a tank and looked like a perfect match for my soon to be purchased kayaks.

A test run to Todd, NC to try fitting the yacks proved to be a nearly bubble bursting experience – in my F-150, the distance between the top posts on the racks was about 60 inches, the pair of kayaks needed about 61 inches!  I could stack the yacks but one would have to lean against the other and it just wouldn’t look right.  It was also a real bear getting the second kayak up onto the rack and in position.  Since the two kayaks were tight against one another, getting the tie downs in place and secure was difficult for Mary and nearly impossible for large me.  A different solution had to be found.

Cradle holding Mary’s Yak

I decided to place a flat shelf across the ladder rack to support the kayaks evenly, force them to drop into a sort of cradle to hold them in place, leave enough room to allow a person to slide the second kayak onto the rack after the first was in place and finally allow enough room for a large adult to stand between the kayaks and tie them down (or untie them) without playing contortionist.

A bit of head scratching and a couple of trips to the local Home Depot (one trip is never enough) and the rack was assembled as pictured.  I used 5/4″ x 6″ x 8′ decking boards for the cross pieces, other decking boards cut and fastened at the proper angles to form a cradle for the kayaks, some marine carpet to cover the wood and voila!  A Yak Rak is born for well under $200.

So, if you are on a budget or would rather save fishing bucks for actual stuff, consider this combination ladder rack and home-built kayak rack.