Hi-
Last fall, while playing around in a shallow marsh, the stuck skeg in my avocet got knocked off. We searched for ages but couldn’t find it. Oh well. The cable was kinked so it just annoyed me anyway. Three questions:
-do you really need a skeg in this boat? I mostly use it for playing around, practicing rolls and braces, so I haven’t yet missed the skeg. For crossings (Apostle Islands, Lake Superior), I use a different boat (BBK Valkyrie). Skegs don’t help much with balance braces. But I also loan the boat to friends who come up to paddle, so then a skeg might be useful.
-I can’t seem to find a replacement skeg anywhere online. Am I missing something? I tried emailing VCP, but their email doesn’t work. Someone told me replacement skegs cost $250–eek.
-any ideas for fitting a different kind of skeg, one with no cable to kink or get stuck?
Thanks!
contact
E-mail Andy Kneply at great River Outfitters
andy@grokayaks.com
Don’t need a skeg to roll…but if You want one, Andy is a good one to ask…They import all the valleys into the US
Best Wishes
Roy
a little search…
and much less than $250
http://www.shearwaterkayaks.com/mainpages/shop/vcppartsmain.html
GRO phone number
401-667-2670
as they said
Try the email that was recommended.
Also a good place to look is Patrick or Tiffany at the “Riverside Kayak Connection” close to Detroit. They are our source for skeg cables 
Avocet’s skeg is quite simple, you can make your own. Having a template and average tool skills is a big plus
Valley skeg is a two part system - the blade and the cable.
Blade is just thick plastic, cable is held in place by a set screw. Borrow from someone to get outline and measure thickness.
Materials can be obtained from McMaster.com
If you decide to purchase your own cable, people recommend 1x19 3/32 or 1/8 cable, thinner might be better.
You could also fabricate a wood “blade”
that fits the slot, bolt in place, and have a permanent cableless skeg--sort of like a Valley HM. Just make it to "hang down" to whatever level you and your boat borrowing peers are comfortable with--find a balance between striaght tracking and nimble.
Contact Necky and get
a length of Nitinol .118 wire from them and re-fit your Avocet with it rather than a cable. You will NEVER kink it! I’ve retrofitteg Valley and Impex boats with the wire. Costly, but works awesome.
Website link…
For Riverside Kayak Connection:
http://www.riversidekayak.com/
My local shop - great customer service…
I hear they even managed to be nice to donna4955…
Thanks!
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Roy, I hope to see you out on the water soon. I did too many balance braces and now I’m very dizzy, even with a tuilik on that I thought was keeping the water out of my ears. That’s another set of questions…