Tips for car top boat transport.?

Question

I have a 135lbs butterfly sailboat (13ft) , a small wife, and little children. I am looking for any help in getting the boat on and off of my Ford Explorer roof. My family can only provide limited support. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Actually, you might be able to do this yourself, but 135lbs is a little heavy. I have done this on a 72lbs boat and I am small size person.

Install a roof rack if you dont already have one. On the back rack, lay a piece of cut opened PVC tube, with the cut facing down so that the smooth side face up.

Set your boat with the bow at the rear wheel and stern further aft of your car. Have a foldable 2 step ladder ready at the rear wheel, if necessary. Lift the bow to shoulder height, step onto the ladder(if needed), push up bow and leave it in the middle of the PVC on the rear rack. Move to the stern, lift it to waist height, push forward. The bow should slide on the PVC tube. Raise the stern to shoulder height, and higher as you move on.

If you find that the boat is too heavy to slide on the PVC pipe, you may want to spray a silicon or teflon lubricant on the pipe before mounting it on the rack.

Hope this helps. Good luck.