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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    Posts
    1,223

    Default The Moomba Mothership

    Has aonyone made any mods to their Moombas to allow the boat to become the Mothership to a couple of Kayaks?

    As I am always expanding my water sport options, the wife and I want to do some lake Kayaking in areas not easily accessible except by boat. So the thought is create a system to allow the transport of a couple of Kayaks on the Moomba so we can use the Moomba to get us near where we want to Kayak but to not damage the Moomba in anyway. I also do not want a permanent transport system installed as I want the boat "stock" when it is being used normally for wakeboarding, skiing, surfing, etc.

    If we can get somewhere near our desired destination we use the Jeep to transport the Kayaks to a launch point, but some areas we have found do not have any nearby access except from the lake. We could of course spend untold hours paddling to where we want to explore, but the lakes around here are too dangerous for Kayaks to be out in open water with the multitude of idgets out there in power boats... IMHO... I digress...

    My thoughts thus far are to use some Universal Roof Rack systems (they have the padded feet and only attach with straps and not stock roof racks) and replace the shorter crossbars with longer ones to reach across the swim platform. The feet of the crossbars would rest on top of the gunnels, the 2010 OBV has a fair amount of fiberglass along the rear gunnels to the siders of the sun deck. I don't want the Kayaks or mounts to sit on the sun deck platform as I do not want the vinyl or foam padding messed up.

    Once I get the crossbars lengthened I would then mount some Kayak roof rack saddles (from Yakima) to the crossbars to hold the Kayaks.

    The Kayaks would be secured in the front (to ski plylon via a custom tie down bracket I am thinking of building and then also the rear tower legs) and rear (to transom eyes).

    The Kayaks are 11 feet long so in my boat the kayaks would extend into the boat cabin to just behind the driver and observer seats and then extend off the back about 3-4 feet I expect.

    The Kayaks would only be mounted to the Moomba just before launch and retreival, the transport to and from the boat launch would be made on the racks I have on my truck.

    This setup would have quick setup and teardown so it'd only be in use when the wife and I are going to use the Moomba as the Mothership, the rest of the time it'd be in the garage with the Kayaks.

    What do you guys think? Am I missing something?
    Kraig - 2010 Outback V

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    Posts
    1,223

    Default

    My bad, please replace "swim platform" with "sun deck " when reading...
    Kraig - 2010 Outback V

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    East Central Indiana
    Posts
    848

    Default

    interesting concept- I've seen it done on larger boats but never on a moomba

    how heavy are your kayaks? My wife and I have a couple of 2 seater hobie kayaks and they weight about 70# a piece- used to transport them on a ladder rack but finally just got a trailer for them- only have used them once so far this year! I've thought about selling them and getting some inflatable kayaks that I can bring aboard the moomba.

    tell me more about how your roof rack feet will actually attach to the moomba? If you can figure out a way to secure the feet to the gunnels I think it can be done.
    2021 Malibu 23 LSV
    2008 OBV-Sold!
    2001 Ski Nautique closed bow-slalom course only!
    attracted to shiny things that float

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Land O Lakes, Florida
    Posts
    6,377

    Default

    kS, I see no reason it wont work--go for it and take some photo's
    Hey, Its Moomba time

    Its all about the dash - enjoy the dash, as that is your time between the dates
    13 Mobius LSV-sold
    08 Mobius LSV-sold
    03 Mobius LSV-sold
    life is about finding the balance between being a responsible adult and staying young at heart

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Tigard, Oregon
    Posts
    3,017

    Default

    How about a pair of endless wave surf racks? Get the longest one available. There's a group buy going on right now.
    Al

    2006 Mobius LSV

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    Posts
    1,223

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by cab13367 View Post
    How about a pair of endless wave surf racks? Get the longest one available. There's a group buy going on right now.
    Ouch, those aren't cheap LOL. Not sure those could handle the weight of the kayaks. Thanks for the suggestin though!
    Kraig - 2010 Outback V

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    Posts
    1,223

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by skiyaker View Post
    interesting concept- I've seen it done on larger boats but never on a moomba

    how heavy are your kayaks? My wife and I have a couple of 2 seater hobie kayaks and they weight about 70# a piece- used to transport them on a ladder rack but finally just got a trailer for them- only have used them once so far this year! I've thought about selling them and getting some inflatable kayaks that I can bring aboard the moomba.

    tell me more about how your roof rack feet will actually attach to the moomba? If you can figure out a way to secure the feet to the gunnels I think it can be done.
    The kayaks are right about 45# each roughly, under 50# each. I use the ladder rack on my truck to transport them, also I have a custom setup on my Jeep (4 door Wrangler Unlimited) that ends up using Yakima equipment on top (legss, crossbars, saddles, hully rollers).

    The universal roof rack feet will just sit on the tops of the gunnels where the fiberglass is off to the sides of the rear storage lockers (sun deck).

    The universal rack feet will basically just be friction fit as I don' t intend to build tie down points for the racks as I expect the weight of the kayaks and the kayaks themselves being tied down front and rear to be sufficient.

    The kayaks would only be transported like this while the Moomba was launched, during transport to and from the lake the kayaks would get put up on the trucks ladder rack and secured and the universal racks taken down and stored.

    As I don't expect to bust 30MPH in the Moomba when transporting kayaks I think this should work, but for those mechanical engineers out there please wade in and let me know what I am overlooking.

    I could of course just tow the buggers behind the Moomba but that'd be wicked slow in transiting the lakes and I'd rather not have them crash into the Moomba during stops.
    Kraig - 2010 Outback V

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Neely Henry, AL (live in Atlanta)
    Posts
    161

    Default

    Maybe get one of those huge mattress tubes and latch them to the tube, then tow.
    2010 LSV
    2006 Outback V (sold)

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Tigard, Oregon
    Posts
    3,017

    Default

    How about just putting an inflatable air mattress on top of the sun pad/engine cover, putting the kayaks on top of them upside down and lengthwise and strapping it down using the cleats?
    Al

    2006 Mobius LSV

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Acworth, GA
    Posts
    1,223

    Default

    Hey Al, not a bad idea!

    I'll keep that in mind as my backup plan in case my crossbars don't work out as expected.

    I'll keep scoots idea as my plan C. I have a aquaglide airport, that is about 7.5 x 7.5. So that would be too big to fit on the sun deck which means I'd have to inflate it in the parking lot while preping the boat for launch... Towing the kayaks lashed to the inflatable doesn't thrill me I expect I'd have to be careful when underway and stopping...

    I need a simple system that can be quickly setup and tore down at the boat launch as I try my best to not loiter in the prep lanes any longer than necessary. The prep time will be increased by setting up the kayak carrier system, then moving the kayaks from the truck ladder rack to carrier system on the Moomba and securing.

    Hmmm.... it is looking like I may need to devise a carrier system capable of transporting the kayaks pre-attached to the Moomda from home to the launch just to make things easier at launch time (and retrieval too). That'd need to be capable of the forces encountered at say 55-60 MPH tow speeds for a couple of miles... Hmmm....

    If I liked the inflatable kayaks that'd be the way to go, but they are a PITA IMHO and in my experience don't track well so that option is off the table...

    Decisions decisions...
    Kraig - 2010 Outback V

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