RE: [Paddlewise] Check Your Rudder Cable

And if you own a kayak with a skeg, check the skeg every time you put
in. Pebbles jam it easily, especially if you seal launch from a gravel
beach. If you can, float the kayak and check that the skeg moves freely
before you get in, then get in while it is floating. If that isn't
possible, check it after you launch, and if it is jammed, have a friend
free it up for you.

Also, be sure to raise the skeg before landing. A couple of weeks ago I
forgot that mine was down when I landed (I don't use it that often), and
then shoved the kayak backward off the beach when I launched again,
which unseated it so it wouldn't retract completely. The result was that
I was unable to steer into a 20- to 25-knot wind and waves until I landed   
at a sheltered beach and reseated it. I still prefer a skeg to a rudder,
though.

Chuck Holst

 -----Original Message-----
From: Gerald Foodman [mailto:klagjf_at_worldnet.att.net]
Sent: Sunday, September 13, 1998 3:21 PM
To: paddlewise
Subject: [Paddlewise] Check Your Rudder Cables


<snip>

Moral:  Don't be an idiot like me.  Check your rudder cables.  Also check
what would happen if the cable fails.  If the rudder is deployed, will   you
be able to get it up?  Will you be able to convert to fixed braces?


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