Boat Building Forum

Find advice on all aspects of building your own kayak, canoe or any lightweight boats

Re: Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning
By:Bill Hamm
Date: 8/28/2007, 6:43 pm

: Hello all, after 14 months of building, with having a baby girl in between, I
: finally got my kayak done earlier this year. However, due to time
: constraints, it was only last month that I was able to finally launch it.
: I've been out twice in it, and there were a couple of things I noticed
: that was different from my 21" beam Greenland.

: Of course, it was much more stable, which is exactly what I wanted, so that I
: can do some fishing from it. However, the tracking and turning was a bit
: disappointing. I don't know if it was where I was padding (Upper Newport
: Bay), where there is a constant flow of water, either to the ocean, or up
: from the ocean during high tide, but the boat seemed to veer off course
: very easily, and then it was difficult to correct course.

: I couldn't carve turns very well either. Must be due to the rounded chines.
: Strangely enough, when I leaned the boat, it didn't seem to have a
: prefernce for which direction it wanted to turn. With my Greenland kayak,
: when I edged it, it would immediately carve a turn away from the side I
: edged to. So, correcting course was very easy. But this past weekend, I
: sometimes would have to make multiple sweep strokes to one side.

: I'm thinking of adding a skeg...but I just wanted to see what everyone else's
: experiences have been.

I'd be thinking of adding a skeg too, but I too am interested in what others will say. Not had a chance to paddle one around here.

Bill H.

Messages In This Thread

Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning
Hyok -- 8/28/2007, 12:57 pm
Re: Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning *Pic*
John Monroe -- 8/29/2007, 6:34 am
Re: Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning
Hyok -- 8/29/2007, 1:17 pm
Re: Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning *Pic*
John Monroe -- 8/31/2007, 3:43 am
Re: Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning
Hyok -- 8/31/2007, 1:00 pm
Re: Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning
Bill Hamm -- 8/28/2007, 6:43 pm
Re: Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning
Aaron -- 8/28/2007, 7:04 pm
Re: Strip: Great Auk Tracking and Turning *Pic*
Andy Waddington -- 8/31/2007, 8:10 am