Kayak rack on R23 - with pictures

I have been preparing for our solar panel upgrade, but roof space is at a premium and I have a requirement to still be able to bring a kayak along. I have been considering a 'lengthwise' combination of panels, but wanted to see if I could make a 'side by side' configuration work and still have room for the kayak as well.

I looked at a few options including:

- J-style kayak racks - I have Yakima JayLow racks on my car (https://yakima.com/products/jaylow?_ga= ... 1661832582) and really like them, and the fact that they can fold down when not in use is nice, but they take up quite a bit of roof rack space. I did look at some alternatives like the Malone Downloader (https://maloneautoracks.com/Downloader-TM.html) but just didnt want to give up the precious space.

- Magma kayak racks (https://magmaproducts.com/collections/b ... nted-racks) - these didnt work because the mounting points are not adjustable and the R23 roof racks dont have enough vertical space to mount them

- Garhauer racks (https://www.garhauermarine.com/product- ... yak-racks/) - these have a single mount point so they would work, but they are non-adjustable and I was afraid they would stick up too high for trailering/storing the boat

I finally found the Krypt Towers kayak rack (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Q8WJSKK?ps ... ct_details) which fit the bill for me. The mounting points are adjustable both up and down as well as able to rotate 360 degrees to accommodate different positions. I got them mounted up today so I thought I would share.







Instead of sitting on top of the roof rack, the boat sort of hangs off the side so it doesnt take up roof rack space, but also doesnt hang so low as to obstruct the windows or the view. As you can see in the last photo, the overall height is not that much higher than the solar panel itself. So unless the sun is very very low on the horizon, the kayak doesnt even cast a shadow on the panel. The racks come with some bungee cords built in, but I plan to add some additional tie-downs to keep things secure.

Anyway, this worked for me so I thought I would share in case others were looking for a similar solution.

What's the hoist you have there?

SgtAlf":1tl0jyzd said:

What's the hoist you have there?

Click to expand...

That is my crab/shrimp pot puller - more info and pictures here: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=20422&p=133335&sid=32206091d7fbf92303b833400de32bd5#p133335

We have Ace Line Hauler Brutus Plus Pot Puller and works well. Easy set up since you are able to use Scotty's downrigger pads. Also doesn't take up much room so easy to store.

Perfect, thanks for sharing. I've been looking for this exact solution.
Rob

That looks great.

I'd be worried about visibility of the nav lights at night, but if you're not moving on the water at night this is brilliant!

Great job briandunnington I thought I saw every rack possible on Amazon but I guess I missed that one. That's the best i have seen. I ended up making something simple that attaches to the two swim platform rails of my R23 and rests on the stern (all padded of course). The good part is it's near the water and i can easily get my two sit on top kayaks on and off the boat. The drawback is I can't tilt my engine when they are on board....so i need to be prepared for that. If I could figure out how to post a picture...I would. jim

stinson":112mlswb said:

Great job briandunnington I thought I saw every rack possible on Amazon but I guess I missed that one. That's the best i have seen. I ended up making something simple that attaches to the two swim platform rails of my R23 and rests on the stern (all padded of course). The good part is it's near the water and i can easily get my two sit on top kayaks on and off the boat. The drawback is I can't tilt my engine when they are on board....so i need to be prepared for that. If I could figure out how to post a picture...I would. jim

Click to expand...

I considered a swim step railing mount too because of the easy of getting the kayaks on/off, but a) couldnt decide exactly how i would make it work, and b) was worried about not being able to tilt the engine as well (though most of the time when the kayaks are loaded, the engine does not need to be tilted). I hope you find a way to post a picture, i would love to see your setup.

If you have photos in a personal web collection (i.e. flickr, iCloud, amazon, google, your own web site, etc.) then you click the Img button to add them to a post. The image/collection must be open to the public.

This will create a tag (string of characters) in your posting window - then you copy and paste the URL (http://whatever...jpg) of the desired image in the middle, between the ][ brackets. The trick here is to determine the direct URL of the image. Various image hosting sites show it in different ways. Sometimes it's right up in the address bar. Other times it's listed under "Share This Image", etc.

You can determine if you have the correct URL by hitting the Preview button. If it displays, you're good to go. If it's not correct, the form will give you some kind of clue so you can go back and dig around. You'll only have to figure it out once for each host.