This is the third crate I have made – and each one has been better than the last. This latest crate incorporates a couple of nice extras.
The basic skeleton is built around a cheap folding plastic crate (£4 from your local well known DIY store). As well as being cheap, the crates are relatively strong, low profile (low windage) and they drain well.
I wanted the crate to sit as close as possible to the back of the seat, I also didn’t want the kayak cart wheels located in the rear scupper when at sea – for several reasons – I find the wheels get in the way of the rod holders and make it more difficult to get things from the crate.
So a cunning plan was launched… off with the shock cord in the rear tankwell. The hooks were retained, as were a few short pieces of shock cord. They provide the anchor points for the crate should the kayak capsize (the two clips can be joined together when the crate is not in use, and provide a retainer for the rudder)…
I have jumped ahead of myself a bit – back to the crate itself….
Kayak Trolley holders
I added two sections of 22mm PVC pipe to the rear corners of the crate. The length of the pipe is important…
When placed on the crossbar of the Hobie kayak cart, the tubing needs to be cut to a length that is an inch or two lower than the hole in the upright.
The tubes are then drilled, and thick plastic cable ties are used to secure it to the rear corners of the plastic crate. Make sure that there is a gap of a couple of inches between the bottom of the tube and the base of the crate.
The following images show how the trolley cart fits into the tubes and how the cart is secured using the retaining pin…
Once the pin is put into position, the trolley is locked. Just pull the pin out to release it.
Navlight and rod holder
I added some brackets to hold my navlight, and another piece of 22mm tube to use as a rod holder/net holder.
The navlight brackets were secured using stainless M5 nuts and bolts…
This allows the navlight to be removed quickly and simply, but holds it securely enough to enable a pole mounted action cam to be used…
The rod/net holder was made from 22mm PVC tubing, with a groove cut down part of one side. The top of the tubing is also flared. The groove allows fly rods and reels to be stored in side the holder. Full instructions on how to make the rod holder are available here.
Anchor stowage
This is my favourite addition to the crate. With all of my previous crates, the anchor, chain and diver’s reel have simply sat in a heap in the bottom of the crate. Invariably they end up tangling with something in the crate, usually at the moment when you need to deploy them ! So after a bit of head scratching, I decided on a solution that would secure the anchor and the chain, keep it tidy, take up the minimum of space and also make it super-quick to deploy.
I cut a few inches from an old offcut of wide PVC tube – in order to make it wide enough for the anchor and chain to fit, I cut a slice out down the length of the tube (a couple of inches wide). Then I used a heat gun to bend the remaining tube open. I used a temperature of between 100 and 150 degrees celcius.
Note : When PVC is heated, it can produce toxic fumes. Take care when performing this operation and always perform the operation outside.
Once the tube was bent to the correct shape, it was drilled and secured to the front corner of the crate using plastic cable ties.
The anchor used in the images is a 1.5 kg folding grapnel with 3 feet of 6mm chain and a trip link weak release device.
A great addition to the crate I am sure you will agree.
Finished crate
The finished crate fits the Hobie Revolution 11 even with the Tandem Island rudder modification. The design would be suitable for most kayaks, and has now been tried ad tested over a number of years. Its cheap, simple and quick to make, and is incredibly lightweight, which is a major consideration on the Hobie Revolution 11.
It has integrated support for the kayak cart, a navlight, video camera, extra rod/net and anchor stowage.
The big plus is that only a small fraction of the footprint of the crate has been used – so there is still loads of room to add other mods (more rod holders etc etc) and of course all of the other gear us kayak fishermen love to carry.