I was about 2 miles off shore alone in my Solstice GTS. Conditions were mild. Maybe 2 or 3 foot swell, 1 foot chop, less than 8 knots wind. The rudder was up. I was paddling slowly, relaxing. Suddenly one rudder cable snapped. Right in the middle. It must have been badly frayed. I found to my pleasant surprise that the slide on the foot brace hits a nut at the end of its travel. So I reached in and moved the foot peddle a few notches back and I had a very nice fixed brace. 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? I also have a Mariner Express, no rudder, which I love dearly. But I also love my GTS, with rudder; it is so easy to travel in a straight line no matter what the wind. No need to sweep, lean turn, use corrective strokes. The boat goes through anything, straight as an arrow. These boats could not be more different. This experience will make me more circumspect about using the ruddered boat in rough conditions and I will carry spare cable and crimping tool for travelling. Jerry *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
Gerald Foodman wrote: > > I was about 2 miles off shore alone in my Solstice GTS. Conditions were > mild. Maybe 2 or 3 foot swell, 1 foot chop, less than 8 knots wind. The > rudder was up. I was paddling slowly, relaxing. Suddenly one rudder cable > snapped. Right in the middle. It must have been badly frayed. [snip] > Moral: Don't be an idiot like me. Check your rudder cables. [snip] > and I will carry spare cable and crimping tool for travelling. I've had similar experiences with rudder cable. Most fraying occurs at the stern where the cable makes an eye and is easy to detect. However, a buddy had his spring a strand loose in the middle, as happened to Jerry, and *the strand got caught and "back-raveled" as he tried to extract the cable!* In the end, he had to drill a small hole into the H-shaped extrusion the cable ran through and capture the strand before he could pull it out. Bummer of a job. Re: crimping: does anyone know of crimps which are NOT copper? The copper promotes corrosion -- seems like a stainless steel crimping sleeve would be a better choice. BTW: I use small vise-grips for field-crimps. They seem to work OK -- going on two seasons of use on a set I field-crimped in Canada. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
<< "Seems like a stainless steel crimping sleeve would be a better choice." >> Those things are refered to as Nico Press (sp?) fittings. And they do come in stainless steel. There is a special tool for crimping them, but vice grips seem to work fine. Check your marine stores. Ken Mannshardt SF Bay Area *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
There are stainless steel end terminals made for aircraft that would work well. The terminal ends are not expensive but the tool to swage them on is. The terminals are a few dollars each but the Kearney Swager to install them is almost $4000. If you know the exact length of cable needed you can go to a marine rigging shop and have them made up. You might need to take the boat and have the ends done in place. BTW I have had good luck with Nicopress in many thousands of miles of ocean sailing but they do need to be watched for problems. michael dkruger_at_pacifier.com wrote: > Re: crimping: does anyone know of crimps which are NOT copper? The > copper promotes corrosion -- seems like a stainless steel crimping > sleeve would be a better choice. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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