I just bought an old Necky Elaho kayak. It’s missing the drop-down skeg. There is a line on the left (port) side of the cockpit with a clam cleat that goes to the back of the boat, and it appears to have been there for the purpose of controlling the skeg.
This is quite an old boat, so there is probably no way to buy a replacement skeg. Is it possible to build one?
One thought I had was to make a fixed skeg from a piece of quarter-inch plywood. It fits snugly in the skeg slot.
My plan is to use this kayak for a two or thre day camping trip to the uninhabited barrier islands off the southern tip of the Delmarva peninsula in Virginia. I normally paddle a canoe, but for this more open water type adventuring I’d like a kayak.
I wonder if I’m viewing the same kayak, because I found a model that has a rudder instead of a skeg.
If TopKayaker doesn’t have replacement skegs for your model, you can order plastic on line, find something like a plastic cutting board of the right thickness, or buy some sheet aluminum. That material would probably be a better option than plywood, which might not stand up to long term immersion and be prone to breakage against underwater objects.
I believe that the earlier versions had a drop down skep and later ones the rudder. The top view looks the same. I think mine has more rocker aft, which makes the skeg important.
It must have been discontinued for a while, based on the retail price listed (under $500). The only info I can find is misleading, such as a used listing for a model with skeg, but showing a rudder model. TopKayak is helpful in finding available parts, if they’re still available. You might be able to adapt another model’s skeg.
Glad to be able to help. I found the Chatham skeg on a search for your model. Sometimes it’s just too broad a search, but sometimes parts are interchangeable between models. That’s one of the things you figure out by doing research to find replacement parts, and it’s a big help to anyone new to the game. Information like this can helpful beyond the person asking the question.
Your work has just begun. Let us know what else you needed to get it up and functional.
Its interesting to see how models morph into different versions. For example, it looks like the Elaho at 16’9" x 23" was replaced by the Chatham that is around 17’1" x 21" wide. My size and weight makes a 21" wide boat too tight for me. I looked at the 170 Tempest but the seat was too tight. On the other hand, the 180 Tempest fits me at 23 inches wide. The only way to learn about used kayaks is to research them for when you see one for sale, and then to know about availability and cost of replacement parts.
You have a Necky Elaho DS (Drop skeg) Which is a gravity driven skeg. It is a simple sheet of aluminum. The kayak is more highly rockered than the ruddered versions that came later. More of a white water, sort of fit to the cockpit and extremely nimble, hence the oversize aluminum Skeg.
If you remove the Skeg, it should be a pretty simple matter of tracing a template and machining a new skeg blade. Using a thin wire to snake new line in through the cleat is the trickiest part.
@fiddlecanoe - could you post a picture of your boat showing where the skeg should be?
I seem to remember the skeg being something that fit in a slot on the underside of the hull, and the slot went all the way to the stern (so a different position, and likely different shape, as the Chatham skeg that @jyak posted a link to).
The Elaho came in both rudder and skeg (and likely a version with neither). Many people who have used said they prefer the skeg version.
