Now that's a good question. Further down in this posting Earl made mention of a time that a rudder came in handy, and I had a simliar experience. First of all, learn to paddle a straight line, then the rudder option will be less crirical, but there are times when it sure is welcome. Before I go on, WARNING, I'm about to get on my soapbox: Become really REALLY profiecient in rolling, in every wave condition, from the left and right, with or without a loaded yak,with or without a paddle. Believe me, someday, you'll thank me...

Now, we've done some long paddles in the past but I've heard that the Sea of Cortez could get hairy...hot, no water, raging winds, and a stretch that has nothing but cliffs and rocks. For the Millenium a bunch of us paddled out from the Chatham Islands (okay, we all had sails, too) out to meet several friends in boats on the Date Line. The point is this, never too far away was out support the whole way out. I seem to remember that someone recently wrote a book about a solo venture, a aprt of which was in SeaKayaker? Anyway, that's my 2 cents worth...

: Hi Y'all, I'm building an arctic tern for an expedition on the Sea of Cortez
: this winter, in which I'll be carrying at least a hundred pounds of gear,
: (I'm 5'6", 130). Would you reccommend a rudder or not? Seems like
: most say the tern doesn't need a rudder, but does that consider the
: unpredictable conditions, weight of gear, etc?