Thank you everyone for your helpful, and humorous suggestions. Quick responses, loads of different stuff to think about with options. I feel darn lucky to have access to you lot.
We are just about to set off from the River Wey as continuous cruisers, heading north so initially I will take one of the suggestions (store it in the cratch while cruising, and on the roof at the end of the day), but will want a longer-term solution to get it off the roof and out of the well deck. All your input I will be chewing over and chatting at boatyards as we travel.
Please keep the thoughts and suggestions coming and again, thank you, very much appreciated
Kind regards
Dave
P.S. I already have the bike rack, similar to the one in the picture. I don't have to use it in a solution just my starting point