Since a week of paddling in salt and sand, my skeg is jammed. There is nothing jammed into the skeg box so I am assuming the cable is kinked. Can I unscrew the cable from the skeg and move it back and forth to try and clear the housing? Any other suggestions? thanks, wendy
Wendy, trying emailing these folks:
http://www.riptidesandrapids.com
When I bought my avocet they discussed what to do, should this happen, but it hasn’t happened and so I forgot:)
Drill skeg add cord
consider putting a small hole into the bottom most outemost corner of the skeg, good 2 or three mm climbing accessory cord will do fine (REI or ? ) Just tie a two inch loop through it in a good knot. If you have skeg trouble and you are not solo, have friend grab the loop and pull down.
Some wire skeg users put a third or fourth finger on the skeg wire itself. (One usually has one or two on the knob) to get better feedback on what is happening with the cable. Don't force it.
If the cable is kinked…
…your best bet is to replace it. You can get the proper cable and most marine suppliers. What you want is 1/8" 1x19 stainless cable. Do not get 7x19 cable, as it’s too flexible to use in a skeg system.
The cable is simple to replace. It’s held by one screw in the skeg and one in the control. Loosen the screw in the control and use the skeg to pull the cable out. Loosen the screw in the skeg, remove the old cable and reverse the procedure to install the new one.
If it turns out that the original cable was not kinked, you can flush the housing out with water, rinse off the cable and reinstall it. Lubing it with a wax lube like White Lightning or Krytech (available at bike shops) is a good idea. Do this with a new cable as well.