Boating while camping. What do you do?

[SailorSteve]

My family and I usually end up camping near water (lake, bay, ocean, river). I guess it's a natural attraction for all of us. I am an avid boater (mostly sailboats and kayaks). My question is, what do you all do to bring a boat with you on your camping trips?

Kayak or canoe on the roof of the TV? Inflatable or foldable kayak in the trunk? Nesting dinghy on the roof?

Really curious as to what you all do. I'm headed to Backus, MN to pick up my new Scamp 13 on Monday and I'm already making plans. I look forward to your replies.

Best regards, Steve

[ericw]

We take the kayaks on top of the TV. It definitely does not help the gas mileage, but we love having them along when we are by water.

[Richard Hayes]

[alan H]

We carry our kayaks on our jeep cj7 roof rack....

[Thomas G.]

Canoe on roof , far forward enough to clear camper front window.

[Carol H]

I rent from the closest location to where I am going to launch, then but them on the cars roof. Saves on gas for long trips and saves on the long term maintenance and storage at home. An added benefit is I often get this years model boat each year, if I choose the rental shop carefully.

[Marsha D]

Canoe atop the TV

[Cricket]

I suspect we will do kayaks on the tv. Right now we only have a rack for the vehicle without the tow hitch....gonna need to do something about that i guess....

[Jim Bennett]

Another canoe on tow vehicle person here.

[john warren]

i am concidering this same idea. if i do anything it will be a canoe or kayak atop the tug. for now i think i am just going to rent . and see if that will fill the bill. also i have refreshed myself on the fly rod as i can carry that for fishing and not have to worry about bait.

[Raz]

Molly doesn't paddle but she does like to drive.

[Evan Friesen]

We have two inflatable kayaks by Advanced Elements. They are quality and work well on lakes and non-whitewater rivers. They fit almost anywhere for transportation.
We live in an apartment, so storing a big kayak isn't a possibility.

[Ron in BC]

As a life long sailor camping by a body of water and not being able to go out on it is torture. But a kayak fills the bill and I like gunk holing the same as I did with the dinghy off the big boat.

I just bought a new kayak, a little more modern than my old one and it has a rudder. It's going to be even more fun now because I've discovered a sail for it that allows it to really sail as opposed to some of the other crude kayak sails on the market. www.kayaksailor.com I'm picking it up tomorrow.

I suppose it cuts down on my fuel mileage but it is what it is. I like to have the use of it anytime, anywhere. The racks stay on the TV full time because I use them for other things. I don't notice any difference having the kayak on the racks. Aside from making sure its positioned properly to avoid touching the trailer on turns its an effortless add-on.

Ron

[mary and bob]

We carry two kayaks on the car roof. We have four kayaks to choose from, two 10 footers and two 12 footers. Some time back I posted as how the rack broke and both kayaks ended up out in the road still secured to the rack. Now I have a much better setup, and tie the kayaks down with Thule straps.

[Mireille L]

We could put our 12 feet kayaks IN the campervan...Now it's going to be kayaks on top of TV. But sometimes, if we are going to be kayaking just a few times (sometimes even only one time) during a trip, we rent.

[Diane R.]

We have two kayaks that travel in racks on top of the Jeep. Being able to go out on the water sure adds to the camping experience!

[Robert Detrick]

I put my 12ft. aluminum boat on top of my van, stow the outboard in the van. I have a power roof rack to load and unload boat. The boat has wheels so I can drive to the boat landing. works good.

[Dennis Clinton]

I haven't done it yet, but going to buy an inflatable kayak(no rack, fits in back of TV, doesn't take space in garage when not in use).

[Lynn Musgrave]

Kayaks on the TV...unless DD goes then she pulls the kayak trailer with 6 boats

[Dave Fish]

We either carry our 17' canoe or 2 16' kayaks on the cab of the PU. We will usually take the canoe if we are going to be along a river (not whitewater) and the kayaks for lakes or salt water. I do NOT like rough water - the flatter, the better.

I have not really checked the mileage. There is probably some impact because of weight, but they are not as high as the trailer (17' Casita), so we are still pushing the same amount of air.