I’m with you Wayne
I’ve worked on quite a few rope skegs from several “generations” of VCP and NDK boats and none of them work well for very long. As you said, the bungees stretch out quickly and the cords also become stiff with age and salt accumulation. I have yet to see a commercial rope skeg that isn’t a piss-poor design. I’ve made several modifications to my Pintail’s rope skeg and it still doesn’t work consistently well for very long.
Yes, but
its so easy to fix no matter where you are.
Its wonderment, isn’t it; the rationales for them? It is perhaps the best kayaking example of cognitive dissonance I am aware of…other than everyone thinks they own the best kayak ever made. Of course that isn’t a good example since it is true.
What lube isn’t going to attract…
…dirt? There’s a couple out there formulated to reduce this effect, but at this point I haven’t seen anything to make me comfortable using lube in a space on my boat that I can’t access well to clean out. Enlighten me here please.
As I mentioned above…
…wax-based lubes don’t tend to attract dirt. There are several bicycle lubes of this type. White Lightning and Krytech are a couple of examples. While they suck as chain lubricants, they work well on cables. If you can find it, MolyKote 557 is a good cable lube. You can also simply rub the cable with paraffin wax (you can find it at the grocery store in the canning section). It’s also possible to apply powdered graphite or Teflon to cables, but it’s less effective, since they tend to wash off.
What about Triflow?
My understanding is that it must be shaken well before use so that the Teflon particles in it will be suspended uniformly enough in solution to be carried adequately to the area being sprayed. The ‘carrier’ fluid then disperses/evaps leaving the Teflon, or so I’m told. This from a guy who maintains ambulance gurneys in the region for a living and has worked with various lubes in many disciplines for a number of years.
Graphite Wax
– Last Updated: Jan-25-07 1:02 PM EST –
So far I use nothing. Re-did my skeg cable/tubing with the stuff SealLine includes with their trim tab kit. Their tubing very closely fits their cable - so not much can get it (but plenty loos enough for easy glide) - and the plastic is quite slick on its own.
So-so
Tri-Flow is actually pretty oily stuff. It makes a real mess when you use it as a chain lube. While it would work on skeg cable, it definitely wouldn’t be my first choice.
OK
That’s good to know. I appreciate your input here. Thanks.
I just bought a used 2003 NDK Explorer. The Front rope skeg had a HUGE amount of friction and required a HUGE amount of muscular effort to pull it up. Getting the skeg down…skeg got stuck every time. A worthless device that in my opinion NEVER Worked from 2003 to 2025. I experimented with different thicknesses of bungies. Way too much friction even with the two pulleys in the system.
Wow…cool to see this post pop up. I posted this 17 years ago. Time flies. I wish I had another Explorer! I sold mine. The are great boats and truly one of the most well rounded, tough and sea worthy rough water boats out there.
Matt