Traveling with a 16 ft Touring Kayak

[yonate]

Hello folks, I've finally decided to take the plunge and start my long awaited chapter on the road once I'm done with my semester. Sorry in advance if my formatting is bad, I'm kind of brain dead right now. 

I bought a touring kayak back in August, and I was wondering what kind of experiences anyone here has had while vandwelling with a kayak, especially a 16 foot one. My biggest fear is losing it to a theif. Anyone ever get their cargo stolen? Particularly stuff mounted to the roof? Like a roof box or bikes mounted on racks to the front/back. 

I plan on driving through several states and visiting major cities, such as Chicago, Vancouver, LA, and Las Vegas. Those are just some examples. I also plan on staying several days in many National and State Parks, but I'm not as concerned about theft at those kinds of places (compared to a city). I want to have the flexibility of being a tourist and being able to enjoy the beautiful water that this country has to offer. 

Anyone have any tips? There's a part of me that kind of regrets buying it because I won't be able to use the kayak in the kinds of places that I wanted to use it in.

Thanks for looking 

 

[highest_vision]

As long as you accept the fact that you will have a huge sign that says "I have expensive stuff" and act accordingly, I think you'll be fine. Make the kayak hard to take, and don't leave anything visible out inside your vehicle that could possibly be of value. I always leave things visible that I perceive will turn people away. I have a boot with a busted shoelace, I leave just that one out. Some fast food paper sacks with trash in them. Top off fluids like coolant or engine oil and rags to go along. Dirty rags. 

You will get scoped. Who wrote that song about giving them something to talk about? Just my experience. I once had a kayaking boss who had a bunch of stuff swiped. It was right there in his pickup. Not even covered by a tarp!

 

[maki2]

I know from past experience that making something look old and grungy lowers its value in the eyes of a thief looking for quick cash. A lot of people at the marine take their brand new outboard motors and cover it in bad coats of black primer and poorly applied paint. It is an excellent way to lower the perceived value.

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome yonate to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

I hope you don't mind I moved your thread to the "Newcomers corner"

highdesertranger

 

[Van-Tramp]

We drove around for years with two 15+ ft kayaks on our truck. Not a big deal. Most people don't care to steak then because they are too hard to steal. And they need a vehicle large enough to haul it after stealing, so that limits them too.