Vehicle overhang... think I was legal?

Made a bit of an impulse buy on the way home from our vacation in Monterey and Santa Cruz.

My beautiful bride and I enjoy standup paddling together, but she can't go with me as far as she'd like, 2 miles is about her comfortable limit.







I planted the seed some time ago about getting outriggers so we could put in some miles.

I've been nurturing the seeds, but had just about given up since outriggers are THOUSANDS even for a decent older used one.

While we were gone on vacation she was on FB Marketplace (Which I had told her she is NOT allowed on 'cuz she's been buying tons of cutesy yard and garden stuff.)

We're driving along and she goes "Hey Honey, check this out."

Long story short, she found a screaming deal on an OC-2 (Two person) outrigger canoe, so she messaged the guy back and forth a bit, we stopped in Dana point on the way home and paid the nice man, drove home and I jumped in my truck and drove an hour back up the coast to pick it up.

This thing is LONG! 27' 7" to be exact.

I had one of the bed extender things that got me another foot and a half or so, but this was still BY FAR the longest I've ever had anything hanging off the back. Just had toe remember not to back up into anything, it actually did really well on the way home, stopped multiple times to check my straps and see if anything shifted or loosened.

It's weird actually going the speed limit on our freeways, thought I was gonna' get run over.

I'm going to work out something better for long term transport, but we made it home.

Can't wait to get her in the water!! She's very streamlined and surprisingly light, so should be fast.

 

Front receiver and a convertible bed extender that converts to a "T" here, works great for long cargo without a trailer. I actually have 2, put one at each end of the truck and my headache rack supports the center. The hitch mounts to the frame where the "tow loops" that aren't really tow loops are mounted.

 

That thing looks slick! To your original question.....

 

Epic find and cool hobby! Have fun!

 

Dad, that thing wouldn’t fit in our yard..

 

That is awesome, though I would've centered it on the truck and cantilevered it over the front and rear to split the difference.

 

Yeah, I had one of those laying around that I used in the rear, (Kinda' hard to see in the pic) only gave me another foot and a half or so, but also a third point of contact and strapping point.

I've thought about a front receiver, and it would come in handy for other things... like a bike rack when towing the travel trailer.

 

I was actually surprised to find this on the Caltrans site.

According to this (if I'm reading it right) I was probably damn near legal. https://dot.ca.gov/programs/traffic-operations/legal-truck-access/overhang

Overhang
Per California Vehicle Code (CVC), loads extending to the front and rear of a vehicle, trailer or semitrailer have maximum limits. The CVC Length Section is 35400. Following is a selective paraphrase of the CVC. It is not guaranteed and may be subject to change.

Rear Loads
To the Rear:
Per CVC Section 35410, the load upon a vehicle, trailer or semitrailer shall not extend to the rear beyond the last point of support for a greater distance than that equal to two-thirds of the length of the wheelbase.

"2/3 my wheelbase" is about 8' and with that bed extender being my "Last point of support" I probably only fudged by a foot or so.

It was really weird with that thing extending SOO far back though, kept thinking to myself "Must not back up" and "How much swing is on the tip of this thing when I'm turning a corner. It actually did fine but it was weird.

 

I saw those regulations, and interpreted them to be associated with commercial loads, not the average driver.

 

I would've preferred that too, and I thought about it, but I wanted the load more balanced and centered over my support/attachment points as opposed to centered on the truck.

Centering on the truck would've left more hull hanging off and able to flex over bumps and dips than I was comfortable with.

This was just to get it home, and ultimately I will be getting some nice purpose designed / built V-cradle canoe racks that will allow me to have it centered and supported much better. I've been watching people with outriggers for quite a while (while working on my wife and trying to figure out how to get one) and I've noticed that nearly EVERYONE uses the same racks, so that's what I'm getting. (and I like that the guy who makes them named 'em after his dog) "Goodboy Paddlesports"

 

That's what I wondered at first too, but couldn't find anything specifying commercial. As usual, governmental verbiage uses a shit-ton of words to be vague and confusing.

 

I really enjoy the stand-up, but this is gonna' be freaking fun!!

We put her in the water for a short maiden voyage, sunset cruise after work Wednesday night, and it was a rousing success!!

Two miles has really been about as far as Margo can comfortably go on the stand-ups, and we did that in no time and with not nearly as much work. Ran outta' daylight or we could've gone further.

Didn't push hard at all, just an easy paddle to get our feet wet (pun absolutely intended) and get a feel for it.

This thing glides through the water like a baby deer on a frozen pond! On a SUP with your body acting as a sail if you stop paddling in a headwind, you pretty quickly stop moving forward and then you go backwards. There was a moderate headwind blowing when we started out, maybe 8-10 MPH... Soooo much less affected by it! At one point we had both stopped paddling and I was watching fixed objects on the shore and was amazed how long and far we kept gliding forward into the wind without paddling.

I was also very pleasantly surprised how much steering effect the small rudder has on this big long canoe. Even at low speeds you can turn it around pretty quickly.

Having the rudder is gonna' be HUGE on windy days when you have side or quartering winds (Which are super fatiguing on the SUP) Just trim the rudder a little, and no problem maintaining your desired path.

I can't say for sure, but I think Margo is pretty happy so far.









The Bahia Belle was out for a sunset cruise too...

 

As already mentioned, installing a front mounted hitch would provide you the option to use a hitch extender and create the front supporting point.
Even opens up the opportunity to build an H frame over the cab to support your canoe in multiple spots, as well as tie down points.

I have been looking at installing one to carry my canoe more securely, but have not gotten it.
Did read that you will need to modify the skid plate to be able to have this mounted, some suggested to leave it off.
Potentially need to modify the OEM one and cut an access hole to get to the oil filter, an after market one might be OK.

 

I used to race my wife and her family on SU paddle boards in the choppy ocean in the Micronesian islands and they’d always call me out for sitting down but the low air drag made all the difference!

Happy you and your wife have such a good time together! Always good to see other couples actually enjoying life like we do, we get tired of the “marriage is the worst” blah blah blah all the time haha. It’s awesome if ya make it!

Have fun, stay safe!

 

Thank you!

I'm pretty lucky. My wife and I met and became friends on the volleyball court, and we played together, hung out together, and even went on a couple of weekend snowboard trips together before we ever dated.

I think we both always knew there was something there, but one or the other was always with someone else. The years of friendship built a pretty solid foundation to anchor and support anything else, and we genuinely enjoy each other's company. I strive to grow and be a better man because she's in my life much more than I would on my own.

And if you're not enjoying life, WTF is the point?!

I know some people (good kind people) who just kind of "exist" and I don't get it. There's so much to get out and do!







I love the look on her face in these Front row...

 

Where are you going to put a tree that big Griswold?

 

Got my purpose built canoe racks, much better.
Nice padded "V"s with a 10' spread between the V's to better support the almost 28' hull.
Much easier to load and strap.
The V ends are removable so when not hauling the boat it's just the 8' main bar.
This should make life easier.

I once forgot about the SUP's on top, backed in my driveway and barely hit the fin of my board. No damage to anything but my rain gutter.

Since this hangs off WAAAYY further I made myself a super high tech early warning system for the dash whenever I have the boat on there.

 

There’s a few different companies (such as Yakima and Thule) that make hood loop straps. I have a pair on my scion xB. They work quite well.
https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Thule/TH529.html


And here’s a pic of my 1980 Civic with a 28.5’ long plank on top. I got a LOT of looks while driving down the interstate, but luckily none of them were from LEOs.

 

Holy crap, that's hilarious!

You could probably grab the end of that plank and lift the front wheels off the ground.

I'm considering bow/stern lines, probably would rig some up if I were going on a trip.
With how streamlined she is and no attachment points on the ends, any loops/lines would need to be pulling back towards center to keep from slipping off.