rudder difficulty

I am having a hard time lowering and raising the rudder on my WS Sealution XL. When I pull on the cord for the rudder it does not budge. Its almost as if the cord will break. Is there a technique to this that I am possibly missing? Thanks for any help I can get.

my guess
is it’s just gunked up. The movement up/down is all dependent on quite a number of things working in conjunction with each other. Does it move up and down by physically lifting/dropping the rudder by hand? I spray some 303 on the wheels and cords and work it up/down by hand.



hope this helps



steve

Is the rudder line catching in a cleat?
Some kayaks have cleats for the rudder lines, to keep the rudder deployed. If you forget to clear the line from the cleat, you won’t be able to retract the rudder.

do it by hand
When the boat is out of the water, can you move the rudder by hand (not using the lines)? If not, where does it seem to be binding (at the rudder pivot, in the lines, elsewhere?)?

there is usually
a nut on the rudder that you can loosen an wash out the grit that maybe stoppin it . Then re tighten or not .

Thanks all
I took your advice and removed the rudder and cleaned everything up and then lubricated all with 303. It is markedly easier. Thank you very much.

I figured
just keep it clean and lubed from now on and methinks you’ll not have a problem!



steve