Has anyone else had problems with NDK’s Kari-tek skegs getting stuck? The sides of the cartridge in my Pilgrim Expedition bow in toward the middle, and if there’s even a whisper of sand in it, the skeg sticks and won’t deploy.
I drilled a hole in the skeg & threaded a draw loop, but I’m getting real tired of asking people to free my skeg after I launch.
This is from the Kari-teck website: “Kari-Tek’s skeg systems end the frustration of poorly performing skegs.” Yeah, right. I’ve never had a skeg perform so poorly.
I have one on my Explorer LV
No problems with it at all, but I’ve heard of them not standing up well to rough use. Because it’s not glassed in, leaks might be more likely to occur.
My dealer advised that I get the regular skeg for my Pilgrim Expedition, so that’s what I got.
You should be able to replace the entire Kari-Tek unit by unbolting it. Check with dealers on this. Good luck.
profile says ri…
closest ndk dealer is greg paquin at kayak waveology…drop him an email and see what he suggests.
Talked to Greg yesterday
at the Autumn Gales training. I guess he doesn’t use his skeg that much, he basically said to just live with it. I’m going to take the cartridge out and see if I can just put the skeg in without it.
Please feel free to call me for real
world advice on this thing … Happy to help.
no
i wouldn’t think he’d use his skeg…my boat doesn’t even have one but i’d have thought there might have been some suggestion out of that conversation.
sorry i missed the weekend…i’m the guy couldn’t make it cause of pneumonia…hope you had fun!
Yep
I have the same problem. If my skeg box even sees a grain of sand, it gets stuck. Plus over time, the box itself has cracked and broken. It’s not a good design.
Sorry you couldn’t make it
Yes, the Autumn Gales workshop was great - we were teasing Greg about over-ordering on the weather. Hope to see you next year!
Email me your contact info
…and I’ll call you. Thanks!
It was just a casual question
I may have given the wrong impression about Greg’s response. My question to Greg was a casual question in passing during a very hectic weekend, and his response was in that same vein. I bought my Pilgrim X elsewhere, so it was not a request for customer service. Greg & Paula are outstanding coaches and good friends, and the only reason I bought the boat elsewhere was it was the only way I could afford it.
skeg
I have a explorer and I had a bent cable that caused the skeg to stick and was hard to deploy, try taking the cable out and checking for any kinks. I e-mailed NDK and was very impresed, they walked me through the repair, I could not find a cable from any USA dealers and asked SKUK if they had one and it was sent to me at no charge what better customer service could I ask for?
Thanks for the suggestion
Hi, thanks for the suggestion. The problem is not the wire, it’s the Kari-tek housing that fits into the skeg box. Basically it’s a long skinny plastice box that the skeg sits in, and the sides are bowing in toward the skeg. Pat of Onno Paddles suggested taking the cartridge out, bracing it open and running it through a heat cycle to try & reset the memory. This is what I’m attempting to do right now, but am trying to figure out where to disconnect the wire - at the skeg or at the joint inside the boat.
Skeg wire
must be disconnected at the slider mechanism by loosening the “grub” screw. Metric allen wrench should do it. Then, remove the 2 screws holding the KT skeg box in place. The entire assembly can then be removed. Note: if the wire is frayed, you might have difficulty sliding it back up to, and into, the slider lever.
Wire must be frayed
I was able to slide the wire almost all the way back in, but I think it’s hung up where it enters the slider tube. What’s the best way to access that end of the wire?
By the way, I’ve found that compressing the ends of the wire strands into position & applying a drop or two of Gorilla super glue takes care of the fraying.
Gorilla is the only super glue I’ve ever used that doesn’t dry up in the container. It seems to be a little more forgiving, too; takes about 30 seconds to set up so you have some working time. Plus it doesn’t stick your fingers to things as badly…of course, that seldom happens to moi 
I was able to heat and reshape the cartridge yesterday so it’s more flush with the sides of the skeg box. The other thing I’m going to try is routing very shallow channels for the skeg pull loop so the cord doesn’t stick out as far on either side of the skeg. I’ll knot the cord at the edge of the skeg to hold it in place, then again at the ends for the pull loop.
Such fun, no wonder the laundry’s piled up & my house is a mess! 