Kayaks and Carrier for the Jeep

 When we first started Fulltiming, we had a couple of kayaks that we didn't have room to take with us. We knew we wanted to keep them, but where? Enter our kids, Chris and Kayla had a house in Dallas and were willing to babysit our yaks (and or course use them at will) until we were able to retrieve them one day. Well, that day finally came, this year when we decided to head to Florida, we though how great it would be to have the kayaks and how much use we could get out of them. So after almost 4 years we picked them back up, now how to transport them on our travels?

 Bringing them up to OKC from Dallas, we fashioned a temporary rack to get them here. We of course needed a more permanent solution. Our solution after much research was, this Swiss Cargo rack. We liked it over several others, because it will hold 2 kayaks and also the upright part will fold down when not in use. Now on to the other issue, our Jeep did not come with the factory cross bars, but at over $200.00 for a set, there had to be a better way. I already had a set of Thule bars from a previous project, so I looked at the part from Thule to connect the bars to the Jeep rails and they alone were close to $175.00!!! So by now you know I'm a tightwad, so putting the ole noggin to use, I came up with a $4.00 solution.

 The solution, 4 U bolts and a little elbow grease. I just drilled holes in the bars for the U bolts to fit in, then attached the bars to the factory rails and problem solved. A solid base that did not cost a small fortune.

The Kayak carriers then attached to the bars via the supplied hardware. Now we have a secure way to transport them around.

We did get to use the kayaks in Arkansas before my back went out, however now they will be a couple of 12' paperweights until the neurosurgeon decides the best course of action to fix the problem. We are still waiting for an appointment with him, he just got all the MRI results so hopefully Monday we can get an appointment scheduled and get this show on the road.

Another project down, (with the help of pain pills), so until next time we'll see you right back here soon!!!