: Hi Charlie,
: I have a round deck Great Auk (full length) I finished last year (That's me
: at the top of Nick's Great Auk picture page). Anyway, I had the same
: tracking problem you are talking about. I switched to (1) a shorter paddle
: that (2) allowed me to use more vertical strokes closer to the kayak
: sides. (3) the position of the seat + or - 2" makes a big difference.
: Since you are likely paddling at well under the Auk's design weight load,
: you may not be getting the stern deep enough in the water to act as a good
: rudder. (4) add weight or move the seat back. Caution: moving the seat too
: far back or adding too much weight in the back only, will increase the
: weather cocking of the bow. Guess trying to balance all of these factors
: is why it's best to let the designers design and the builders build.

He cut off most of the stern that could act as rudder. Thats the real problem. Glue on false skeg like babina mentions is best solution that can be removed whenever.

pete c