Wanted: Lighweight sea kayak or baidarka near DC

I slung a small diameter rope inside a plastic tube, between the roof bars. This allowed laying the kayak anywhere between the bars without hitting the car, and then can easily lift from the stern to push up and into place. I used the same method for a much heavier sailing canoe, but that needed a trolley once on the ground. Some roof bars are so "slick", they are better than useless except for a manufactured roof box.

 

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I currently have self-vulcanizing rubber wrapped around roof rails to increase friction. Occasionally I mounted the stiffening beams taken from inflatatble boat , on these rubberized parts to create crossbeam for jonboat.

 

I certainly hope you don't fit the profile. They have a lot of contacts in the area and might be able to put you in touch with someone who wants to sell a boat. I was suggesting them as a source of information.

 

Folding Kayaks That Go Anywhere | Oru Kayak Canada https://ca.orukayak.com/

lightweight, folding, fast set up, no need to carry it on the roof of a vehicle
I have been seeing a few on the lake over the last 3 - 4 years.

If possible, a steering skeg is worth the few pounds that it weighs. Especially if you are quartering a bit of a wind. The Coast ST weighs 30 pounds.

 

DC attracts a lot of type A people. One of the clubs I've paddled with a lot in the past requires sea kayaks. Most members use high performance sea kayaks, practice self and other rescues, and go fast. The racing surf skis get away with coming. But no way would they countenance an inflatable. Some of the other DC area clubs are more or less like that too.

I love the idea of Oru folding boats. But look at the videos. They create a lot of drag at the folds - not a smooth surface, and some fold lines face forwards. Also, many videos say they break easily, from day one.

I love the idea of the folding SOF boats too. But people who have them say they need a lot of repairs. And they require a lot of strength to assemble. No wonder so many people want to sell theirs.

The rope on a tube between the rack bars isn't going to work for the Venza, at least not without scratching paint and possibly breaking a window, because of the extremely curved roof line and the absence of rain gutters. It's no better than the outdoor carpet I've wrapped around the roof bars. The furthest back a roof rack can go is the back door. The Venza isn't really an SUV. My mistake.

 

Oops. Just to clarify: The picture of my car was a sales photo from 2018. It is not for sale now.

 

Folding kayak - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folding_kayak

 

Origami . Looks impossible . I once looked at a high pressure kayak. I can't find the manufacturer at the moment.
Folding , origami , inflatables , drop-stich lot of possibilities and combinations . When I used an inflatable kayak I simply stiffened the bottom with the plyywood and it worked fine.

 

While I realize that the OP was looking for a rigid kayak, some comments
Our experience with Kayaks as follows

2-10' Costco type, roto molded, no skeg, no rudder. Ok for short jaunts but they do not track well

A 15 foot Chelan Aquaglide 2 person inflatable, normally used on rivers so efficiency in paddling is not a big concern. Even with the fixed skeg installed, it does not track well.
Every stroke sends the nose off line significantly. Without an established keel per se, a little wind and you basically paddle on one side to quarter a wind direction

2- 16 foot Delta composite- These track extremely well and have a rudder which mitigates wasting energy to keep the boat on a straight track. The front and rear extreme deadrise
helps keep these on track.

My recommendation to the OP is to stay away from inflatable kayaks as their direction stability is poor and he seems to want ultra light for easy paddling and buy something with
a rudder

A Delta 14 is about 45 pounds. He just needs a means of putting it on his vehicle. Perhaps a custom rear rack mounted to either a hitch, if they make one for that vehicle or attached to
the tow hook/tie down brackets that are pretty common on most vehicles.

 

Actually, I was mostly looking for a non-rigid SOF, because they are lighter. And my favorite sea kayak was a SOF. Rudders are trouble prone.

A tow hitch rack is an interesting idea - at least for loading the boat, and/or for extending the support distance down a lightly built SOF. I already added the hitch to create a back tie down, and under-the-hood straps to create a front tie down. Or I could strap a ladder to the racks, and put slippery outdoor carpet on top. Interesting idea... Thanks for making me think of it! Maybe I could even use that to make do with my fiberglass sea kayak.

 

TRAK®: Ocean Sea Kayaks – Portable Foldable Kayaks https://www.trakkayaks.com/

 

The Trak 2 folding kayak that montero just linked to does look like a big improvement over the other folding kayaks I've seen. Maybe I would be strong enough to use the hydraulic jack.

On the minus side, the 22.5" beam is wider than the two sea kayaks I have now (including the 19" wide SOF, which isn't in good enough condition to be safe, but also including an old 21.5" wide Caribou [S, I think] ) And it's heavier: 44 lbs vs about 30 and 42. So it wouldn't be as much fun to paddle. If I add in food & water and such, it would be hard for me to backpack it - but I like that it's case is a rolling cart.

I'm not sure about waterline length. Like my Caribou, it was rated to be able to carry people + gear much heavier than me. But it says it has an adjustable rocker, so maybe it would work better. I'm guessing, based on reviews, it is a bit slow - not exactly what I was hoping for. But if it can be adjusted to give a fairly long waterline, it might be faster than what I've got.

The ends are a bit higher than I like - would be blown around in wind and pushed around by waves a bit more than I like.

They've got a "Pilot" program for test trials.

The $3650 price tag is fairly high - but comparable to a fairly fancy (and lighter) composite boat. More if I want it faster than 90 days. But I've never bought a sea kayak new...

I conclude that if I didn't already have a sea kayak, it might have been an OK option. But at that price, weight, beam and high ends - nah. But it sounds like an amazing boat nonetheless.

 

Actually, instead of an expensive ladder I mentioned above, maybe I could use a painted wooden board, wrapped with slippery outdoor carpet, to make it easier to cartop my current fiberglass boat, or a future SOF boat.