Re: [Paddlewise] Question for Doug Lloyd/Rudder

Thanks for the read. I've always felt the anti-rudder bias was more of an 
aesthetic issue to begin with. I'm glad to see my rudder usage coincides 
with yours albeit on my certainly reduced paddling level. I like to put it 
down when I paddle through Big Arch Rock when the water is a little 
squirelly as it keeps my line better than having to react to every shift 
change in the current, but on milder days I'll leave it up and sit and deal 
with the churn the old fashioned way. With as little as I use it, I sometime 
wish it just wasn't there, mostly as it's been ingrained in me that it's 
only a useless mechanical crutch not worthy of my faith in its reliability. 
Of course the people who believe that would really be upset with my electric 
bilge pump which was supposed to corrode into useless ballast as soon as it 
touched salt water, but has been performing yeomanly for a year now. I've 
spent my short kayaking life in my straight tracking QCC, so I've appreciate 
the little turning influance my rudder provides when I use it. One piece of 
advice I've ignored is to never use my rudder in the surf. I can only assume 
that admonition was mostly for landing on the beach, but for riding waves 
it's the only way to avoid my boat's desire to broach in a wave and allow me 
to get some nice rides. I don't think my QCC 500 was ever intended as a surf 
boat, so I'll take any mechanical advatage I can find. I found the plastic 
footpegs  on my Seal Line rails are starting to crack and I'm not sure about 
the availability of replacements, so I have some rudder issues to deal with. 
I was lucky that my plastic Seal Line rails broke about a year after I had 
the boat and after emailing the company, they sent me new aluminum rails for 
free. They explained that the broken plastic rails were a rare, but 
occassional occurrance with the racing crowd, which gave me a chuckle. Guess 
they didn't realize which model of QCC I paddled. Anyway, I may be looking 
for an alternative peddle assembly, but it will have to combine some form of 
the stationary system of the Seal Line system for me.

Mark Sanders


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Doug Lloyd" <douglloyd_at_shaw.ca>

> Having said all this, I'd still prefer not to have to use a rudder if it 
> was possible. I'm sure a good, chined kayak, probably with a well made 
> skeg used when demanding conditions extend for hours, combined with 
> well-healed, improved paddling skills would sufficiently meet my own 
> arbitrary requirements 90% of the time - even 95%. But that still isn't 
> 100%.
>
> Doug Lloyd
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