: Since the skeg box was fitted before the deck was added, it was easy to mount
: pretty far aft - indeed, probably easier to mount where the boat was narrower
: as I could use a smaller peice of wood to hold the skeg box in place whilst
: the epoxy set. Further aft the boat is smaller, so the tube for the cable
: was easy to route out of the way than it would be with a skeg further
: forward.

: My wife's Romany has a skeg mounted further forward. To me, this provides
: less
: of the desired effect (shifting the centre of lateral resistance back) per
: unit of undesired effect (causing more drag). Also this skeg is a narrow
: blade that pivots down deeper below the boat, which seems more vulnerable
: when manoeuvering in shallow water. A skeg is not a keel - it is not meant
: to provide resistance to rolling - so an area further aft and without too
: much increase in draft seems the ideal solution. Of course, one thing I am
: not considering (because I don't know enough theory) is that the water is
: more turbulent aft, and the skeg might not be as effective as the water gets
: more turbulent (ie. further aft and closer to the hull:) and might add more
: to the drag in that position. Maybe Nigel Dennis knows something I don't :-)

: One thing I would consider for a future skeg would be to offset it to one
: side
: of the centre line as in the Expedition Islander (commercial) kayak, as this
: would render the skeg less likely to jam with grit, and make the edges of the
: skeg box less vulnerable to abrasion, and mean it was easier to add or
: replace
: a keel strip. Can't go very far off the centreline though, as you lose
: internal
: height to fit the skeg box, unless you use something like the CLC design
: which
: has a deck penetration as well as a hull one...

: Andy

Hi Andy,

Easier to not use a skeg in the first place

I'm starting to like simple designs more and more, perhaps I'm just getting more lazy

Bill H.