: I second that ! Try paddling a highly rockered white water kayak (in flat
: water, not much wind) for a couple of sessions. Getting these to go straight
: educates your senses to be more sensitive to the very slight movement at the
: start of turning that you can correct without breaking your paddling rhythm,
: just by pulling a little harder or longer, or sweeping your paddle a fraction
: wider. It also teaches you that correction strokes have a habit of applying
: power that makes you go a bit faster, which makes the whole thing go a lot
: more wiggly - you learn to do correction by applying a bit _less_ power on
: the other side, or sweep your paddle closer to the boat ...

: Once you can paddle a really poor tracking boat in a straight line at a
: reasonable speed (which will be slower than for a sea kayak - whitewater
: boats are just plain slow because they are short) try your sea kayak again
: in a cross-wind and see if you still find that you are having to do stern
: rudders or lean the boat unconfortably to keep on line (and remember that
: turns are leaned the opposite way in a sea kayak from a white water boat:).
: If so, then it becomes worth while trying a skeg.

: But once you have a skeg to trim, don't just paddle in the cross winds that
: are giving you trouble ! You need to be sure that you can paddle almost into
: the wind (just off, say 10-15 degrees either side). If you can do this OK,
: then you don't have too much skeg. Too much skeg will give you lee helm,
: and this means that all the energy you need to paddle into the wind - which
: you may need to keep up for long periods - will go instead into keeping
: straight. This is far more demoralising than having to do correction strokes
: when crossing or running down wind - it may make the difference between
: making progress and having to lay up storm bound for an extra day or more !

: Andy
We were paddling with a quartering 3' to 4'rear swell and a 12knot wind. I have a Guillemont standard with a 2 3/4" x4" fin and seems like the swell and wind chop together would grab the fin to drive the bow up. I am 200 lbs so I sit nice and low in the water. I have to admit I am not great at lean turns,most of the time not needed with very quick G17.Next time out will try with and with out fin,its in a fin box.We also had thought of adding ballast to the bottom on those conditions,strapped bottles.Any thoughts?
Don