: . . .3) A trailer. It may sound goofy for an Insight, and there may not even be hitches available for them, but you can get really light-weight trailers
: for hauling kayaks.

: 4) . . .Here's another idea if you can get a hitch receiver mounted (and I
:think they can mount recievers to any car): build a cradle that mounts into
: the receiver. Have someone take a piece of square tubing that fits in the
: receiver, mitre it at 45*, weld it to another tube that goes straight up
: to just above the roofline of your car, and weld a V-shaped piece of steel
: on top. I'm sure that could be done pretty cheap.

If you can find the receiver you can find a hitch. Check with your local U-haul dealer and see fi they have the parts for your car listed in their catalog. This will give a pretty good idea of costs, and whether such an item is available.

For a small car you'll probably get a receiver that takes a 1 1/4 inch square ball mount. The ball for your trailer goes on the ball mount. For small trailers the ball size is usually 1 7/8 inches in diameter. (larger towing packages have 2 inch receivers, with 2 inch ballmounts, and either 1 7/8 or 2 inch diameter balls.)

If you go with a small trailer you can get kits, or you can buy components like axles, bearings hitches, and wheels individually. One source is northerntools.com They have a trailer kit which weighs 125 pounds -- certainly light enough for your cart to tow. This has a bed that is 4 feet wide and 40 inches long, and they want $160 for it. They have a larger kit which is of a simiar design for $20 more. This one has a bed that is 48 by 96 inches. (4x8 feet) and it can fold in half. When folded you can flip it on its side for storage. Base weight on this is 205 pounds, which is still light enough to tow.

I have one like this, which I purchased from a local hardware store, and I love it. It took two afternoons to assemble by myself. Not difficult, very clear assembly instructions, just a lot of bolts to install and tighten -- and I tend to work slow. Get a partner and put it together in a day. There is a picture of the frame below, as shown on Northertools' site. I added a sheet of 3/4 plywood for a floor, and made sides from 7/16 particle board and a couple of 8 foot 1x4s. E-mail me if you want more detailed info on how I did this.

If you JUST want a trailer for your yak, you can skip this. There are many predrilled holes in the frame for attaching any kind of mounting setup you want for a boat.

Your load a trailer so that about 10 percent of the weight is on the hitch. With all the wood on my trailer it is about 300 pounds. Carrying 2 boats in the 40 to 60 pound range my total load would be 400 pounds. that means about 40 pounds of weight on the back end of the car -- about the same as putting 4 gallons of milk, or two cases of canned beverages in the trunk.

These light trailers will not overtax your car's suspension, but the added weight will add a bit more wear and tear to the engine and brakes. Figure on a drop in gas mileage of 2 to 4 mpg. I go from about 33 to about 31 mpg with my 4 cylinder Geo Prizm when I pull my trailer at highway speeds. Your mileage may vary, as they say.

Allow a few feet mroe for stopping. With my occasional use, I'd guess that I'll get a brake job at 49,000 mile instead of 50,000 mile intervals. All in all, not a lot of cons.

Interesting idea about mounting a metal tube in the receiver to serve as a suport for a roof mounted boat. I just finished making a bike rack for my receiver, using the same idea.

Teh local Home Depot had a 4 foot ling piece of 1 1/4 inch square tubing for about $6.50. You would probably want an 8 foot piece for about twice that amount. I used a plastic triangle (drawing tool) and a pencil to mark a 90 degree area to remove from the tube.

____\/____ If you can imagine that the horizontal line in this crude illustration is one side of the squre tube, and that there is another side paralle to it, and as high as the top of those slashes you'll have a fair idea of what I was cutting out.

With Sears cheapest sabresaw and a metal cutting blade I cut out a wedge of the tubing, leaving one side intact. This would be at the intersection of those slashes. I then folded the square tube, closing up the gap I had removed. A couple taps with a hammer got the parts neatly aligned. I have a lightweight mapp gas/oxygen welding set, so I bought a fresh oxygen tank for $7.60 and a few brazing rods from the haerdware store. With the inexpensive equipment I have I find brazing much easier to do than welding, and the joints are nearly as strong.

I brazed shut the cut I had made, then I took the wedge that I had cut out, and brazed it on as a brace. The little oxygen tank only lasts about 12 minutes, but before it died I was able to attach a crosspiece to hang my bikes from. If you want something a bit easier to assemble, consider getting slotted tubing that is 1 1/4 inches square. You'll still want to cut out a wedge and fold it, but the slots will allow you to bolt on bracing, instead of welding or brazing. If you get a 6 foot piece of the 1 1/4 inch square tube, and a 3 foot piece of 1 inch square tubing, you can make a collapsible mount by letting the 1 inch piece ride inside the 1 1/4 inch piece. With slottted tubing you have a lot of predrilled holes to use for adjusting the height. Just slip a bolt through. You'll need to drill a hole aobout 1/2 inch in diameter through the tubing so your hitchpin can go through and secure this to the receiver. Drill a small pilot hole and go slow.

If you decide to go with the 3 part boat, carefully consider where you will put the bulkheads. If you can get ti right, you may be able to store either the bow or the stern section inside the middle section -- just slip it in cockpit. Then you'll have only two pieces to be concerned with. Now, if you are real good at measuring, or real lucky, you might even be able to store the stern part inside the bow, and then load the bow into the cockpit, to give you a very compact nesting arrangement. Obviously you would need a very large hatch opening on the bow section.

Good luck with the project

PGJ