Hey gang, been a while since I've been here and looking for some ideas.

Built his and hers Guillemots (identical, just different scale and ornamentation) in '08. They continue to serve us quite well, even if we often don't get to play with them as much as we'd like. Went back and installed retractable skegs into each after being wet only a couple times, and this made the ride(s) much more enjoyable for both the wife and I. Opted for 1/4" birch ply for the skeg blades, glassed with a couple extra coats of MAS to fill the weave. All had worked well with no maintenance required until last summer, when the wife's skeg blade decided after five years that it wanted to warp. Not sure why, there's no signs water actually having haven gotten into the wood, but it's developed some slight cupping. I'd intentionally kept tolerances fairly tight, as I'd read prior of several folk's discontent by the noise made with skegs that slapped around in it's housing, and wished to minimize the chances for this. But now the housing's tight tolerance and warped blade (and more importantly, the wife) are not so happy.

Pondered all winter for a material I could substitute for the wood to create a blade that not be prone to warp, and have nothing to show for it. Hoping there might be an idea or two floating around out here that anyone might care to share. My boats blade has remained true (so yes, I know it's her fault, but what'ya gonna do?) and I can easily (well, get's it's all relative?) build another of wood for hers, but just thinking there ought'a be something else out there so that I won't need go through this again.

Ideas anyone?

Todd