12
Transporting Your Hobie Kayak
The easiest way to transport your Hobie kayak is to pur-
chase a roof rack from your dealer. They come with a wide
variety of attachments from kayak saddles to stackers. The
racks can be used without the attachments but the racks
should be padded. To help prevent distortion, place the
kayak, cockpit side down, on top of the rack. Straps can
then be laid across the boat and tied to the bars. Saddles
cradle the boat and often come with their own straps.
An alternative to traditional rack systems are soft racks. They
tend to be less expensive and will work with most cars. These
are pads mounted on straps that sit between the kayak and
the roof of your car. Some styles have a strap that wraps
around the kayak and others strap the pad to the roof. To tie
the boat to the car, straps are run through the car doors and
the boat is tied to the roof as well as the bumpers, front and
rear. Over-tightening the straps may cause dents in the roof
of the car. Be sure to first consult your owner’s manual for
the car and roof rack system to ensure that you comply with
all of their recommendations, precautions and specifications.
A line run from the bow and stern of the boat to each
bumper is required. If your bumpers do not have a gap to
pass a rope around, look underneath. There should be a loop
of metal, which is used by car transports such as tow trucks.
Many people like to use the scupper holes to tie the boat to
the car. This helps prevent the boat from sliding back and
forth or the tie-down rope from slipping off the kayak. (This is
a perfectly acceptable method for tying the boat down.
Plug-In Seatbacks
Hobie Mirage seatbacks use
a locking plug-in method of
attaching to the hull.
1. Line up the plugs
underneath the vencro flap on
the seat so that they are in line
as shown here. Press them
into the plugs in the seat area.
2. Press in and turn the seat
pegs 90 degrees clockwise to
lock them in place.
3. Fold down the plug handles
and lay the velcro flap over
the plug.
We recommend that the
seatbacks be removed while
car-topping your kayak.
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