:: The rubber idea sounds feasible. How well does rubber hold up
: around salt water?
: One important issue for me as an ocean going kayaker going on 3-5
: hour off shore paddles is when something fails, is it going to
: happen 9 miles off the coast?
: That's what happen to my Smarttrack pegs, more than once. A little
: pin used to work its way out--always far off the coast, or a
: mile off Anacapa Island.
: If the rubber could be expected to last, say two years, I should
: replace it every year.

:Yes.I have a 20 year old double[sea]kayak with this [20 year old rubber with embedded fibers ,bit like power transmission belting]hinge system.The pop rivets should have a plate under them to spread the load so the rubber [holes] don't creep around the rivets ,so dislocating the peddle plate.My feet rest in a tray that can be moved fore and aft on a central rail and spring loaded pin/hole locator stop.The rudder strings are threaded such that the whole loop is alowed to move through eyelets so foot rest adjustment is not complicated with having to adjust the slack out of the strings.
This would be the best approach,no highly engineered complexity,just a bit of hysteresis in the rubber.....no wories,I go off shore some way and I understand how very useful [essential] a rudder is when in strong wind....Paul NZ [Roaring Forties]