Too Skinny and too Short

The above title does not refer to me; in particular, I am not too skinny. However, it does refer to the skeg wire installation mentioned in my July 4, 2021 blog. For that installation, I did not buy a new skeg wire, but used one from my repair kit. Although stainless steel, its diameter was skinnier than the original wire. This meant that it deployed too easily. It was actually nearly OK on the water, but otherwise would not keep the skeg from deploying e.g. on the cartop rack. This was not a big deal and I made a plug for the skeg control box to keep the skeg where I wanted it when not on the water. In addition, the 'too skinny' wire was also a bit too short, maybe by an inch. This kept the skeg from deploying fully, so in more windy conditions the deployed skeg was not quite enough.

So I ordered an 'original equipment' skeg wire from George Gronseth's Kayak Academy. I pulled out the 'too skinny' wire and installed the original equipment version. I then trimmed it to proper length at the end of the installation. The larger wire diameter provides the right amount of friction so the skeg deploys easily enough, but not too easily. With the proper wire length, the skeg can be fully retracted or fully deployed. Now the skeg wire is neither too skinny nor too short.

This reinstallation went very smoothly, now that I am trained.