: On my Hybrid Cormorant, I built a retractable skeg whose mechanism
: was a stiff stainless steel wire running in a tube from the skeg to
: a sliding control next to the cockpit. This is the same sort of design
: used by Valley and North Shore (and no doubt other commercial kayak
: builders). Its neat, reliable, but a bit of an effort to build, and
: perhaps a little prone to jamming.

: I've seen two other methods of deploying a skeg, both relying on bungie
: cord. In one case (Masterlite plastic kids river boat), the bungie pulls
: the skeg down, and a cord and cleat pulls it up, whilst in the other case
: (Nigel Dennis Romany) the bungie pulls the skeg up, whilst the cord and
: cleat pulls it down. This seems a poorer way to do it - if the skeg hits
: a rock, either the skeg or the cord will be damaged, whilst on the plastic
: boat, the skeg is just pushed up into the boat against the tension of the
: bungie and pops back into use again when the rock is passed. On the other
: hand, if a stone jams the skeg up, the NDK method allows you to put more
: force into deploying it, whilst the plastic boat relies entirely on the
: strength of the bungie. The other disadvantage is that if the skeg is
: mostly up, the bungie remains stretched most of the time, which will lead
: it to deteriorate sooner.

: There may be other potential mechanisms that I haven't seen or thought of.
: The requirements I see are: Not to complex to build - field serviceable
: Skeg/mechanism not readily damaged by rock-hopping errors
: Skeg easy to free from jamming by stones/sand
: Easy to see how far the skeg is down by looking at the control
: Design minimises routine wear (wire cutting into wood/plastic, or cord
: wearing where it goes round corners or into a cleat).

: I'm planning to put a drop skeg on a boat which will be used by kids,
: so it needs to be simple and tolerate carelessness, rather than being
: hydrodynamic perfection.

: Any thoughts / experience / alternative designs ?

: Andy

Hi Andy,
I was talking to someone who was building his own camping bus the other day and we were discussing rudders and skegs. He came up with a suggestion which has merit. He suggested a morse cable (stainless steel thin flexible shaft in a plastic housing) and a shift lever mounted between the knees and knee operated. Positives: only one cable needed since the morse cable will pull and push and the lever will indicate the position. The lever can be placed anywhere and operated by foot or hand as well. It could work on a rudder as well.
Cheers John Only one drawback, price.