I am having issues with keeping my Old Town Heron 9 XT going straight. It wants to go to the left. Is it my paddling technique ?? Any help would be greatly appreciated?
Sarah
OT Heron
Some rotomolded plastic kayaks come out of the mold wrong, or more likely, they are stacked on top of each other during shipping, perhaps warmed by sun, and the hull shaped is changed. Turn your kayak upside down, pick it up by the bow and sight down the keel line. Does the curve of the hull look equal right and left of the keel line? It may be hard to see any warping by eyeballing, but my experience is that the boat hull is simply not in the shape it should be. The problem with plastic kayaks that turn in one direction, or are hard to turn in one direction is usually because they are not “round”, or molded well to whatever hull shape they are supposed to be in. Take it back to the seller and ask them to make some measurements. If it’s possible for their staff to actually paddle the boat and ascertain what the problem is, that’s the thing to do. If you bought the boat at a big box retailer, that ain’t gonna happen, so you’ll just have to be adamant and talk to the boss. At any rate, it’s highly, highly doubtful that it’s your ability that’s in question. I love plastic kayaks–they’re inexpensive, they’re durable, they bounce off of rocks, docks and logs without a lot of damage, but they’re still plastic, and they sometimes aren’t “round”. Take it back, be nice, but raise Hell. Good luck.