How to Travel with Your Kayak A Road Trip or Air Both Are Possible

Kayaking is a great way to discover hidden waterways. It’s a unique experience when you paddle the boat either alone or with your friend and explore wildlife more closely. Kayaking also offers a convenient way of fishing. That all sounds great about a kayak. However, if you own a kayak and you want to carry it along with you on a trip, it may appear to you a challenging task. Don’t worry. In this post, we will discuss how to travel with your kayak.

How to Travel with Your Kayak- a Road Trip or Air Both Are Possible
[ image: pexels.com by Thilo Lehnert ]

Know Your State’s Boat Transportation Law on the Road

While you can carry anything legal on your car’s rooftop, however, to avoid any violation regarding rules and laws, it’s better to check your state’s boat transportation law on the road. In this way, you will be able to avoid unwelcoming interruption by law enforcers on your road trip with your kayak. In cases of serious law breaches, road accidents, or car insurance issues, the lemon car law in Texas can be the solution, for and against the lawsuits.    

Transporting a Kayak on Your Car roof

Strapping a kayak with a car roof and carrying it is an inexpensive way to transport it. However, it’s not a convenient way to transport a kayak. The kayak may cause scratching of your cartop. To prevent that you must put a cloth or padding on top of your cartop. Close the cargo straps and this way of carrying a kayak will save your tons of money. For short distance traveling, carrying a kayak on a cartop is a nice arrangement. But the process is not efficient for long-distance traveling. 

Load & Unload Your Kayak With Care

Don’t try to load and offload your kayak alone if you are not a tall and heavy person. Take someone’s help when you will place your kayak on your cartop. You need two people to lift the kayak to place it on a cartop. During the unloading process, you will also require two people.  

Lift the Kayak Yourself

If you are a tall and energetic person, that's good news. You can do the lifting job on your own. The process is to place the nose of the kayak on the rear side of your cartop while the tail of your kayak on the soil. Now walk to the back of the kayak and push carefully to slide it over the cartop. While you pushing the kayak to place it on cartop, make sure that it does not damage any feature of your car roof like knocking out the car antenna. 

Secure Your Kayak With a Bike Lock

If you are planning to travel long distances that means you may need to stop at a restaurant to have some meals or take some rest. So it is a good idea to purchase a bike lock. Locking down the kayak while you are away from it will ensure that it will not be stolen. Keep in mind that thieves are everywhere. Is it not better to save your property with a small investment. 

 Carry More Cargo with a Kayak Trailer

If you plan to enjoy kayaking and camping, ready to spend more. Since you need to carry both your boat and camping gear, carrying everything on your car roof is not possible. In this situation, purchase a kayak trailer. It comes with more space where you can carry your kayak as well as other things. 

Carrying an Inflatable Kayak

If you have an inflatable kayak or a folding kayak that's good news since transporting it far easier than other types of kayak. If you have a large car, place it your car’s trunk and take it anywhere you like. However, if your car is small, deflate the kayak and carry it with a hitch.  Another option for small car owners for carrying an inflatable boat is carrying it with a roof bag. A roof bag is a useful thing if your car won't have a roof rack. A roof bag is a small bag that you can attach to your car roof.  

Protect Your Kayak with Kayak Covers

Keep in mind that a long journey with your kayak means more investment. When you place your kayak on your car’s roof, it might get damaged from rock, gravel or other road debris. To protect your kayak, cover it with a kayak cover before placing it on your cartop. 

Carrying Your Kayak on Air

If you want to save your traveling time and spend more time on water, an airline is a good option. However, the airline industry has become more strict regarding what you can carry on board. So it is vital that to know which aviation company will allow your kayak or water craft. Below is a list of airline companies that let passengers carry kayak within the united states

• Alaska Airlines

• Frontier

• Virgin

• Southwest

 

And below is a list of international airlines who have more flexible baggage policies

• Air Canada

• Air New Zealand

• Air France

• Avianca

• Austrian Airlines

• Eva Air

• Emirates

• Lufthansa

• Swiss

• Thai

• Singapore

• Turkish Air

 

Get the Detail Information Regarding Airliner’s Baggage Policies 

When you find an airline company that will let your kayak to carry, the next step is to carefully read the baggage policies of the company. Knowing every pertinent rule regarding carrying your kayak will help you to avoid tons of hassle at the airport. Policies may also vary from company to company. For example, some companies consider boat and paddle as one piece while others count them as two different pieces. 

Dimension and weight of a kayak are two important considerations when it comes to transporting your kayak on air. Airline company Emirates for example only allows kayak with a certain dimension. Dimension primarily refers to the length of the kayak. Remember that if your kayak is more than 9.8 feet, most of the airline companies will decline it on their board. Weight is another important factor.  Singapore airline for example has strict regulations in place regarding the weight of the cargo.