: Hey Mick, no apologies needed,,ugly is ugly. Personally I'd rather there
: weren't any protruding or hooked like things to complicate rescues or
: climbing on a back deck. Maybe there's an enclosed cable with push/pull
: action that doesn't jam up but I haven't seen one, then again I haven't
: seen very many so that's not saying much.

Kajak Sport (www.gokajaksport.com) sells their skeg with a cable for $49. It doesn't come with an actuating mechanism, but something similar to what Greg uses would work fine.

Another alternative is to make your own skeg and use stainless piano wire inside poly tubing (from your local hardware store) for actuating it. That's the way the system on my Walden passage works. The wire is much smaller in diameter (1/16") than a braided cable of appropriate stiffness (typically 1/8" or larger) and works better in push-pull arrangements (braided cables are designed for tension loads, not compression loads). You can get all the fittings you need for the tubing cheaply and they're designed to be water tight (compression fittings), so you won't get water into the boat through the fittings.