Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
By:John K
Date: 10/21/2008, 12:14 am
In Response To: Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg *Pic* (Dave Houser)

Hi Dave,
I might be going off my rocker a bit here. You could, off course, say that I'm not tracking you well, but honestly, I'm not sure what the issue is.
We all want neutral boats. We also build them to our purposes, whether touring, playing, racing, or whatever else. We all work with what we've got and try to get it better, but to each his own. Balance is the number one issue. From there the options are legion and depend on what your boat is doing and what you want it to do.
JohnK
PS My seat isn't as fancy as yours. (A more pliable closed cell foam and velcro tabs)
: JohnK

: I have also installed seats that are movable on the fly. And I discovered
: once I have gotten the seat positioned I never moved it. So its only value
: is to adjust for mis-loaded cargo. Adding a fixed skeg to a weathercocking
: kayak is the lesser of evils. It will balance out crosswinds but at the
: price of added tracking. The best answer I have found for touring is a
: kayak without skeg or rudder that is wind neutral, tracks well level, and
: turns on edge. This combination does not have a lot of rocker so touring
: speed (or long term effort) is good. A correctly timed knee lift will take
: care of almost any course correction without disrupting paddle cadence.
: Adding a little more rocker will make the boat more playful (easier to
: turn) and better in rock gardens and in surf at the cost of lowered
: touring speed.

Messages In This Thread

Seeking: modifying for better tracking -skeg or less rocker
ewan -- 10/18/2008, 4:45 am
Re: Seeking: modifying for better tracking -skeg o
Reg Lake -- 10/18/2008, 12:19 pm
Re: Seeking: modifying for better tracking -skeg o
JohnK -- 10/18/2008, 4:22 pm
Re: Seeking: modifying for better tracking -skeg o
JohnK -- 10/20/2008, 6:30 am
When to Add a Deployable Skeg *Pic*
Dave Houser -- 10/20/2008, 3:47 pm
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
John K -- 10/20/2008, 5:38 pm
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg *Pic*
Dave Houser -- 10/20/2008, 11:50 pm
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
William Clarke -- 10/21/2008, 9:28 pm
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
Dave Houser -- 10/22/2008, 2:37 am
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
Bill Hamm -- 10/23/2008, 1:07 am
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
Bryan Hansel -- 10/23/2008, 6:29 pm
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
Bill Hamm -- 10/22/2008, 1:18 am
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
John K -- 10/21/2008, 12:14 am
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
Dave Houser -- 10/21/2008, 1:50 am
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg
JohnK -- 10/21/2008, 6:17 am
Re: When to Add a Deployable Skeg *NM*
John K -- 10/20/2008, 11:55 pm
Re: Seeking: modifying for better tracking -skeg o *LINK*
roger -- 10/18/2008, 8:13 am