Kayak Carriers

My pre-Prius car was a Subaru Outback wagon with a pair of Yakima's Hully Rollers mounted on the roof so self loading a 15-foot was no problem. Lifted one end to rest on Hully Rollers mounted at roof rear then lifted other end and shoved into tie down position. Simple ... easy. Unfortunately, Hully Rollers aren't practical for Prius and only practical way to load is from the side and that, for me w/o help, with a 60 lb kayak is tough. (Might have been easier if I was still in my 40's but at 76 ...yeech!!)

Thule sells a semi-sutomated side loader but it wasn't really practical for me. Expensive and BIG!! Then (last week, in fact) found the perfect solution that someone in Yakima dreamed up and recently added to their line. Called the "Boat Loader" it's a sixty buck extension bar that slides into a Yakima crossbar and, when needed, slides out about three-feet past the side of the car.

Now I can lift one end of the boat ... rest it on the extension (in my case an extension to the rear crossbar)... and, much more easily, lift the other half of the boat (and only half the weight) into position on the front crossbar.... shove the back end (an easy horizontal push) off the rear extension bar into its tiedown position on the rear crossbar ... tie things down an I'm on my way. Oh yeah, I also have to shove the extension bar back into its crossbar hiding place ... a three second effort.

If my description confuses you (and upon re-reading it does me) go to Yakima's web page and look for the "Boat Loader" in their accessories section. They've a little pictorial explanation of the gadget.

BTW, installation of the gadget took me, a mechanical idiot, only about ten minutes. Most of that time was spent trying to get the end cap off one of the crossbars. (I'm using old bars from previous car installations and the caps had been in place for a loooong time.)