5 minute boat shed

[empee]

Well maybe not exactly 5 mins but it was quick ;D

Garage is getting to be overflowing with 'stuff' - caravan stuff - kids bikes - windsurfer (can't remember when that last came out!) lawn mower - lawn blower - the list goes on. No room for cars let alone kayaks.
They say too much UV is bad for stuff so leaving the kayaks outside can't be good for the cosmetics, and then there's the bird muck...

So the boat shed....
Materials
Pack of 2 eyebolts (B&Q £5)
Pack of 2 shackles (B&Q £4)
4 of 5M camlock straps (eBay £10)
1 of 12' x 10' tarpaulin (eBay £5)
Some size 8 screws and rawplugs and bits of plastic for 'washers'
Some bungees too but most of us have some already.







We do have the benefit of an unused side entry but there's a Malibu 2 and a Mini X in there and still more than enough room to walk past. An additional eyebolt provides an anchor for a cable lock.

[THURSOMAN]

Very clever idea there, very clever.
Chris

[ZEBRA]

looks great

[BUDDY]

Cheap and cheerful. Thats the way we like it.
Nice one Martin

[Ferox]

make sure that they dont get nicked!

[curly]

I got a padlock with long thick plastic coated wire that has loops on the end from B & Q. Less than £20 and the wire will go through the scupper holes so can padlock the yaks to something solid

[THURSOMAN]

Martin, I'm so impressed with your 5 minute wonder shed I think I'm going to have a go at making one myself.
Just wondered if hanging up and taking down the kayaks is a 2 man job or is it easy enought to do it yourself?
Also when you have a bit of time would you mind going into a little more detail about how you put it all together please?

Thanks Mate.
Chris

[empee]

It is a one man job to put the kayaks up or down.

There's endless eyeleted tarpaulin sizes on eBay - I chose 12' x 10' to cater for the Malibu 2 which is 12' - as you can see it sticks out a touch at each end so a bigger one would have been better. 10' looks to have been ok for the width as it provides some cover down the wall behind the yaks but bigger than 10' would just go down further - not a problem. Getting one the right size means you use the fitted eyelets for attaching instead of having to add your own which is what I wanted to avoid.

Positioned the eyebolts a 'comfortable reach' up the wall (equivalent to at least 2 x kayak widths anyway), about a third of kayak length in from each end of the desired kayak position - not critical - it will be a compromise if stowing different length kayaks anyway.
Drilled and installed eyebolts first, then positioned the tarpaulin to identify the rawplug positions at the eyelets at either end (one course of bricks higher than the eyebolts). Screwed on the tarpaulin through the chosen eyelets at each end then slit and drilled through the tarpaulin to add a couple more rawplugs/screws along the same brick course to hold the top 'apex' of the 'boat house' ;D Cut a small slit where it covered the eyebolts to let them stick through. Used some plastic tool box drawer dividers for the 'washers' on the screws securing the tarpaulin in place - it's what I had to hand - real washers would do and maybe look nicer !.
Caution - take care when you drill through the tarpaulin - fabric can snag the drill bit and very rapidly wind itself around it! (Don't ask! )

Used 2 straps on each eyebolt and cable tied them in place with some heat shrink over to try and stop them slipping - worked fine on the Mini X but the buckles started slipping down when hauling down on the tails to raise the Malibu - should have tightened the cable ties further instead of trying to keep the straps flat but not a problem - no different than having to hold one end of the strap while you pull tight on the other when strapping on the car.
Straps need to be 5m long so that with the buckle at the top the tail will lie on the ground - just lean the kayak against the wall on top of the straps and there'll be enough slack in the strap to engage the tail in the buckle without lifting the kayak. Then just haul down on the tails - did the 2 straps together on the Mini X, one in each hand but when they slipped on the Malibu I did one at a time- just walked them up a foot or so at a time, pulling up on the bight of the strap down beside the kayak while pulling down on the tail coming from the buckle up above - takes longer to write than to do it! Need to make sure you thread the right tail into the right buckle of course - not the tail of one strap into the buckle of the other! An easy improvement here would be to use 2 different coloured straps, I bought all black but the site on eBay I used had alternate colours available.

Bought a 20 pack of Screw Eyelets (?) from B&Q (£4?) to attache bungees on the bottom of the tarpaulin to.

Hope this doesn't make it sound complicated - taken me nearly as long to write and edit this as to do the job itself!

[THURSOMAN]

Super thanks for that Martin.
I'll start getting the bits together.
Do you offer some sort of customer support for installation? ;D ;D ;D

Chris

[empee]

Do you offer some sort of customer support for installation? ;D ;D ;D

...anything possible for a price - should I charge travel from home... or up here 150km NE of Shetlands ;D ;D ;D

[THURSOMAN]

;D