> > Anyone have a boat with a retractable skeg have any additional comments. > Nick I installed a retractable skeg in the canvas version of Nick's stitch&glue boat, and the Valley Skerray that I have in Spain also has a skeg. Benefits: I can make the boat insensitive to wind. At any time I can tune it to retract it to weathercock, or release it to weatherelm, or take it to the point where the wind does not affect it at all. The skegs adds additional stability in following seas and while surfing. Drawbacks: You have to stop paddling and use one hand to deploy the skeg. The mechanism fails when sand or gravel gets in the slot, which becomes serious after the paddler has gotten adicted to the skeg. The skeg box reduces the storage capacity of the aft part of the hull, which is a concern when going for multiday expeditions without support. When upside down, the skeg might be confused with a female shark's dorsal fin, and male sharks might attempt to mate with the kayak. Jackie Felton's kayashark is the result of one of such encounters. :-)) - Julio *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Oct 09 1998 - 13:59:56 PDT
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