Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

Guys,

Today I was out with some fellow Kayakers, and I experienced a great deal of trouble in following seas!

i attribute my problems with my lack of skill in my Night Heron on following seas, but one of my kayak buddies is sure that my problems will be helped with the addition of a skeg!

He is sure that my Night Heron is too much boat for me, but I know that my skills will improve with experience and time on the water.

I found Nick's thoughts on following seas, keeping the speed up to match the wave, and leaning back to keep the bow up to be of some help the next time I go out in similar conditions.

I was on Lake Erie, the waves were 4 to 6 footers, the with was NNE all night, the it changed to East with the wavs still coming from the North.

My buddies were distracted by my slow skill acquisition, while others were being rescued by the USCG, I had no problems in the water due to my use of a dry suit!

I love my Night Heron, and I would hate to think that it is too much for me to ever develop the skill to kayak on Lake Erie!

Would the addition of a skeg (strap-on or otherwise) help my situation?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Chris F


11 replies:

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RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

One of the interesting things is that some of us learn to paddle after we build our kayaks. I'm one of them.

I bought a skeg kit but then didn't want to cut a hole in my hull to install it.

Several experienced paddlers tell me to spend some time learning to paddle my kayak and then, if I feel I need the skeg, I can always install it.

When I first went out, I was all over the place and the kayak seemed like it had a mind of its own. More recently, I have long periods where I can keep the kayak on track in mixed winds and currents...but I still have times when I'm pulling hard on one side to stay on course. So the jury is out. But I'm thinking I don't need the skeg.

The Night Heron is a very nice kayak and I'll bet you'll get much better at controlling it the more you paddle, with or without a skeg.

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

I am not super duper experienced either, but shifting weight to the back will definately help. If you are camping, load the lighter stuff up front and the heavier stuff in the back. If you are just day tripping, then add a few 2 liter jugs of water in the back, make sure they are secured.

Speeding up to match the waves will also help. Just be careful if the waves are close interval. Your boat does really weird stuff when sitting on top of three waves, and is moving faster than the waves. It is amazing how much influence the waves have on a boat.

JRC

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

Leaning backwards does 2, possibly 3, beneficial things. First, it moves your center of mass towards the wave. That gives your boat positive stability relative to the wave when it's moving faster than you are.

Second, by raising your bow and forcing your stern down, it in effect installs a temporary skeg. You end up with more lateral area in the back than in the front. This gives you positive stability when you're moving faster than the wave or you have a following wind (which is usual with following waves).

Third, bending forward or backward reduces your "sail" area, which can help depending on the wind direction.

All of which is a long way of saying that Nick knows what he's talking about.

Laszlo

 

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

Even without wind, flatwater canoes and kayaks are challenging to paddle at an angle to large waves because they are long and they have little rocker. One or both of their ends is nearly always well buried in water that is exerting strong dynamic turning forces on the boat.

In contrast, think about the directional control a paddler in a short, highly rockered whitewater boat has in wild water. He can (relatively) effortlessly spin on a dime, or hold a constant angle, because he doesn't have long immersed ends for the chaotic moving water to get ahold of.

Skegs can help with course keeping in strong winds and smooth water. But if you are running with large waves, a skeg will actually give the forward-moving water in the wave face a better chance to get a hold of your stern, and swing it around into the trough. If your bow also gets buried in the back of the next wave, that water is actually moving in the opposite direction from the water in the wave faces, so the two forces work together to turn you broadside to the waves.

Most touring kayaks are optimized for efficient paddling in a straight line for long distances. That's why they are long and skinny, and don't have much rocker. That's also why they require active steering strokes by their paddlers in large waves.

Old Yeller

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

Along with the other good suggestions, I would look into using a Greenland paddle.  It is easier to shift your hands so that a full blade goes into the water on one side of the kayak, and hardly any blade hits the water on the other side which helps counteract the wave action.

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

Guys,

Keep the suggestions coming, I am understanding more of how my Night Heron behaves in various conditions that you are describing!

Cogtooth, I do have a Grrenland paddle, and I like to use it due to less strain on my aching shoulders.

I need to paddle stronger and faster to match the speed of the wave if I want to use the energy to my advantage. I also need to try to be at 90 degrees to the wave, lean back to lower my stern and raise my bow, and use a stern rudder with my paddle to steer.

All this is great, but I need the experience of doing this on the water!

Old Yeller, I think you made it clear that I really don't need a skeg for my Night Heron, but that experience and skill development in following seas should help my situation!

BTW, thanks to Nick Schade for his info about this on the other forum! 

I will read this over and over, before I get back in the water!

Thanks to all who have contributed,

Chris F

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

Just get the skeg and enjoy the paddle. While there's a lot a adjustments you can make to the boat and your paddling skills, a skeg is the right tool for the job.

 

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

Paddling in a dynamic environment, such as descibed here has many different layers to it. There is the boat, which is subject to forces of wind, waves and current. Then there is the paddler. Within that person, there is the physical component and the mental component. Put into a stressfull situation, the mental portion can have more of an impact on boat handling that one might think.

Chris, you mentioned that the boat may be too much boat for you. This suggests that you are unsure of your abilities at this point. I was there a short time ago myself. It also sounds like you were in conditions that you were not accostomed to. Speaking from experience, not having confidence and rough conditions will make the paddler tense and tend to over-react. 

So how do we fix this? Learning boat control, especially on edge, in calm conditions is a good start. Learning to self rescue, or roll will also boost confidence and give you a firm understanding of where the limits of stability are, and how to react to them. For me was learning that the upper body and lower body work independently to achieve the same goal. Example, in heavy conditions, pressure on the foot braces can have a significant impact on the ability to steer the boat in the direction desired. Once you are gaining confidence in you boat control, start expanding your comfort zone by going out into more and more challenging conditions. Paddle with a group that is knowledgeable and willing to help you along. Having the safety net of good paddlers around you, will give you the ability to experiment and make mistakes, without getting into trouble. 

Now to the question at hand about skegs. To me, a skeg is a tool at the paddlers disposal. It's not meant to fix any one particular characteristic of a kayak, but to work in concert with the boat, conditions and the paddler. Retractable skegs are particularly useful, as they can be dialed in to just the necessary amount to aid the paddler with boat control. I typically don't use them unless I have wind or waves that are causing too many corrective strokes in a particuar direction. In the rough stuff, I am not using the skeg at all. I want the boat to turn quickly, on command, and to not have to overcome the lateral resistance that the skeg would provide. In following seas, you will use your paddle, upper body position, knees and feet for boat control. In catching a wave, you will lean forward until the boat takes off. Once momentum is pushing you down the face of the wave, you will lean back to slow the boat down and stay on the wave. The boat is steered with a combination of a stern rudder stroke, edging and pressure on the pedals. If not catching a wave, waiting for the proper moment to correct course and staying loose is the key. Work with the waves to achieve what you want. Working against them makes for a very tiring day.

It takes a while to get to this point, and once it does, it's magic. Then you will be saying your Night Heron is the right boat for you. So if you want the flexibility of having another tool at your disposal, a skeg is a nice one to have. 

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

BTW,

I forgot to mention that the waves approaching my stern in following seas broached me numerous times, and as a result, I did end up going over and wet exiting my kayak about five times!

Keep ideas coming, I welcome the help,

Chris F

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

Part of the problem might be that you were out in 4'-6' seas in a kayak.   I think pretty much any kayak is going to broach in that kind of swell. Those are some big waves!  

Not surprised that some had to be rescued by the USCG. 

RE: Following seas, to skeg or not to skeg?

skegs are for wind not waves. as your boat moves throught the water the bow digs in and creats waves on either side wich makes it less suceptible to being blown by the wind ,your stern doesnt have that so the wind will tend to affect your stern more causing you to turn into the wind .a skeg counteracts that . so if you want to paddle more towards the wind use less skeg , away from the wind use more . it,s not a matter of more skeg makes you go straighter.

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