: aha ! I found the source of that drawing !

: I had it for a year or so before I started to construct it, & it's been
: 6 months since it's done.

: here are my notes: I just visited your site.

: your skeg looks extremely thick. does it just looks that way, or is it really
: thick ?

It's just over an inch thick.

: is it made of 4mm plywood ? or is it made of something thicker ?

Sides are 3 or 4 mm ply, whatever you have around, the spacer that forms the top/ends are made with three layers of 1/4 cedar strips.

: if it really is thicker than 4mm, than is there a special reason for it
: being so ?

: I would assume one would want the skeg to be as thin as possible, no...?

I designed it for a 1/4 inch blade for which I used a meat cutting board to construct. If you use a wood blade you have to ensure that it is 100% sealed otherwise swelling can cause the blade to jam. Which raises another point, you don't want the side gap in the slot to narrow or small debris can cause a jam. The trade off is that the blade clunks side to side unless you design a spring loaded tab on each side to eliminate that.

: your shaft is made of bolt,nut & also some tubing to hold the bolt from
: squeezing the housing. I guess it's fine. I used something else for a
: shaft -
: a little plywood disk with the diameter of the hole/hook. I positioned &
: glued it in place when I glued the whole housing. of course I sealed it
: before positioning it. it works fine too. it can't be removed. I figured
: there will
: not be a reason to remove it since the skeg can be removed. I hope I am
: right.

You not alone in that.

: I do have some remarks regarding the shape of the skeg: I designed the form
: of the housing to reach the underside of the deck so it could be glued
: there to add strength. I am not sure if you installed it that way but it
: brings in a more important issue because if you did than you can design
: the wing large enough to go all the way to the top of that tall housing so
: you'll get more skeg surface without it being dipper in the water than
: your original design when extended. (I hope it's clear, I don't have an
: image to explain it).

: with your skeg design, when it's extended there is no "wing
: surface" directly above the skegs tip, so you are loosing lateral
: resistance for no reason.

If you calculate the surface area for my blade, in 10 degree increments you will notice that the area increases are small, contrary to what you think, you don't need much surface to trim your boat. If the area increases to rapidly, you lose the ability to fine tune the trim.

: I am not sure how significant that extra surface is, perhaps you or somebody
: else can tell us.

: take it or leave it. 8-P

: & thanks for the excellent drawing & ideas.

: Erez