DIY Hobie cradle: UPDATE

I saw a video with something similar so I tried my own. It's ugly and heavy and will create drag when the TI isn't on the car, but it will allow me to store the boat on the car for days and weeks without worrying about denting the hull. And it's mounted to the Yakima bar with PVC, so it rocks back and forth with the boat as I'm loading it. Thinking of making another for the front. Any thoughts or suggestions?

-Andrew

I've been thinking about making a custom holder for my new Radar 135. I thought maybe lay down a protective layer of foil or saran wrap on the bottom of the kayak and then spray a thick layer of the canned foam, (the good kind) may be 6-8 inches wide and then lay wood on the foam. When the foam hardens you'd have a custom fit support that could be attached to whatever frame works.

I like that idea!

I've been thinking about making a custom holder for my new Radar 135. I thought maybe lay down a protective layer of foil or saran wrap on the bottom of the kayak and then spray a thick layer of the canned foam, (the good kind) may be 6-8 inches wide and then lay wood on the foam. When the foam hardens you'd have a custom fit support that could be attached to whatever frame works.

I like that idea!

+1

Great theory, considered something like that, but got stuck on some sort of finish layer on top of the foam. Slippery or stick-ish material? It needs to be able to slide, but not too easy.

How to adhere such to the foam for durability and to cover for UV degradation.

Have you solved that, what’re your thoughts, Ken?

How about fake grass. Seems like backing material would glue well to a closed cell foam and a kayak would slide nicely on it. They have rolls on sale now at the Vallejo Costco.

You definitely need something soft to slide the boat onto. I don't how soft that foam is.
Previously I just used pool noodles wrapped in electrical tape on my crossbars, and while they worked fine, I have noticed some denting of the hull.
One concern I have about my carpet mount pictured above is the boat might not sit firmly in it. It could slide around. Kinda doubt it but I have to try it out.
I'll report back...

Make your spray foam mold then fiberglass over it and you could glue whatever material you wanted to that, fiberglass is fairly easy for a diy guy to figure out and very sturdy.

A heater box is the ticket for bending/shaping PVC conduit. There are purpose-built unit$ and there are DIY types that can deliver if that is your target.

Interested in your results with the foam casting.

Would something like this work for you?
http://blog.mydbsupply.com/how-to-build-an-oven-to-bend-pvc-pipe-for-less-than-20/

Make your spray foam mold then fiberglass over it and you could glue whatever material you wanted to that, fiberglass is fairly easy for a diy guy to figure out and very sturdy.

I’m afraid if I put fiberglass on the foam it would no longer fit the shape of the kayak.

You could do it in reverse, protect the kayak hull then lay fiberglass over that and once it’s hard foam the back and you could put slats in it with mounting hardware and glass the back in. Just saying fiberglass is good for all kinds of custom modifications. My experience with it the most is repairing cracked semi fenders.

My DIY cradles from the original post on this thread didn't work out as well as I had hoped. I decided to not keep them permanently on the bars due to drag and ugliness-factor. So, I tried slipping them under the boat once it was on the bars. This was no easy task and the TI began to slide backwards off the car due to the front cradle pushing the front up higher.

I see now that the only way these will really be useful for me with the TI/Subaru is if I permanently fix them to the bars which I don't want to do.
So I'm going to use cam-straps threaded through the boards as a sort of quick release which will allow me to remove them easily.

I’m working on making a support out of pvc. I’ve taken a section of 3” conduit and heated it into a flat piece. I used plaster of Paris to make a mold of my kayak. Now I can heat and press the plastic onto the mold without worrying about melting my kayak.

I laid down the thinnest plastic tarp on my kayak to prevent the plaster from sticking. I layered up the plaster ending with a board on top to stabilize it when removed. When hardened, I put it on a work bench and repeated the process. First the plastic tarp, then plaster and then another board. I put some short screws in the board so they stick into the plaster to help them stay together. Once hard, the tarp allowed the two pieces to separate. Now I have a plaster duplicate of a section of my kayak.

Brilliant! See all you needed to do was get plastered! 
Nice work.

Nice work, Ken! It looks like you have a good heat-resistant form to mold your PVC in to.