: Hi Y'all, I'm building an arctic tern for an expedition on the Sea of Cortez
: this winter, in which I'll be carrying at least a hundred pounds of gear,
: (I'm 5'6", 130). Would you reccommend a rudder or not? Seems like
: most say the tern doesn't need a rudder, but does that consider the
: unpredictable conditions, weight of gear, etc?

Hi Heather, I read a book a few months ago about a woman your size that paddled an unruddered Sea Lion around one of the Great Lakes. And that kayak is a lot less balanced than the Tern. Personally I'd put one on. "most people" say really doesn't mean much when the winds gust above 20mph and you really do need to point in THAT direction. It's basically an emergency back-up in my mind. And as I'm considering the compromises for regular paddling,,,I don't know. If it's up there, the footpegs are squishy, the windage will accentuate any weathercocking, it'll be awkward to roll onto its stern to drain water out at the beach. Hmmm, I'm worthless on this one. How about another suggestion: epoxy in a lot of loops of nylon webbing for bungies under the deck, holding stuff down on the floor in front of the seat, behind the seat,tether the hatches, I hate it when stuff floats out of an upturned kayak. ps. make some rotating footpegs for the rudder. pps, make your own minicell bulkheads instead of the plywood ones. You can mount the front bulkhead as close to the foot pegs as you want, the reduction in storage volume is a tradeoff but I like the residual flotation. have fun, buy a box of latex gloves for the boat building.