I hope your friend has a full recovery. I use a Werner San Juan myself (a big blade) and, OF COURSE I rotate my torso. My comment about “strong shoulders,” obviously misinterpreted, meant I won’t be facing the same issues as your friend (22 years of paddling here). Paddling is the least potentially physically damaging of the exercises I do. Everybody is different. My whole point, going back to the original post, is that using a skeg is not inversely related to “learning to paddle.” Like any hobby, there are differing camps. The “no skeg/rudder” camp in this hobby get pretty defensive.
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Every boat is different. Conditions are different.
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If people use a big blade they need not pull it so hard to injury themselves?
A too-big blade for the paddler still produces unnecessary stress over time. Plus it really does a job on the paddler’s ability to adjust speed or for conditions by upping their cadence.
I just went down to the basement to check before this gets any more confusing.
The rudder does not go beyond the length of the boat. It tucks under the boat ending at the stern. But yes it does not tuck completely into a skeg box - it starts out fully within the skeg box at the front then protrudes below the hull of the boat as the stern sweeps up. So the skeg stays straight while the hull of the boat sweeps up.
While the skeg drops in a similar location to the usual position, it is a good bit longer so is visible in the back where the typical ones tuck up more fully.
So yes, it is necessary to use the toggle for the rear carry. It is also a plastic boat, so more likely to have people use the toggle than a glass boat anyway, at lest in my experience.
I am quite unclear about how anyone bends this thing though short of banging it onto a rock in surf. It is metal, can’t see how it would be possible to bend it in normal transportation and carrying. Certainly not an issue Jim and I found with it in the couple of years before we were able to spring for our first glass boats.
The boat had its niche - it was aside from needing gloves to handle it in a surf capsize it was a favored boat for surf work at MITA because of its maneuverability and keyhole cockpit. It had tremendous stability. I was getting killed on paddles when Jim got his first glass boat because it had a decidedly faster hull than mine. Reversal from Jim in the Elaho and me in the Squall. But he learned to paddle in that boat and it got him home safe every time while we were first figuring out the ocean thing.
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What works for me is keeping the boat on glide as long as possible. That’s easier to accomplish with a higher cadence. High cadence is tiring and hard on joints with a large blade and a long paddle. I believe I found a combination of blade area and length that works for me. It lets me reach a sustainable speed at a manageable cadence that minimizes speed flutuation and lets me manage comfortable breathing over long distances.
Rather than relying on other people to tell me what I should do, I figured out what works for me. I tried many methods and that’s what works for me. Not sure if that works for anyone else. Maybe worth exploring.
I only use the rudder on my 175 Tsunami when I get tired of fighting contrary forces that try my patience.
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This is what I was referring to:
Necky used this abomination on a few kayak models, this one being a Gannet.
Wow. That looks lethal.
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I agree that is awful. I have (mercifully) never seen this in my life.
But not remotely what is on the first year/two Elaho. There is a skeg box and the skeg itself is far more substantial.
I just bought a boat without a skeg or a rudder - Cappella 166 RM. What do I need to learn to paddle that boat in conditions where others are using skegs and rudders? I assume it is a combination of boat lean and carving, but that is the whitewater paddler in me talking. Does it work in wind and waves.
Thanks.
Yes, edging and strokes. Also design of your hull.
Your assumption is correct. FYI. The skeg box of my Sterling Progression is taped up. I did this because beach landing/launching in the surf zone quickly packed gravel into the box and jammed it up. I cleaned it out the debris and taped it shut.
FWIW,when I went out with the RICKA contingent on the rock/surf play trip, my skeg box remained taped up. Essentially, I was paddling skegless. Yes, I had to do more edging and corrective strokes. But, it was fine for that trip, around 8 miles total in waves and wind of almost 15 knots (on the return). Now, if we were tripping at the limit of level 3/4 of up 10 15 miles in waves and wind of over 15 knots, I think more endurance and more work would be involved in going skegless.
sing
The Capella 166 without a tracking aid can test the resolve of a new paddler in terms of tracking. But coming from a WW background, yeah you will have it right.
In waves, you can incorporate habits similar to skiing moguls. Have the habit of going for course corrections when going over a wave, where the least hull is in the water. And take full advantage of anything in the slop that tends to put you in the right direction, a little extra paddle effort there.
One underused thing for wind (IMO) is to shift your weight to the side of center - essentially sit in kinda the bilge - to encourage an edge that resists the wind . The 166 is plenty stable to manage that as long as you are relaxed. It can save you a bit of effort correcting.
That’s a commonly-used technique with traditional skin-on-frame kayaks. However, it can be a bit difficult and/or uncomfortable in modern boats with molded seats. It’s certainly worth trying, as it does work.
One thing I want to clarify is that edging is toward the outside of the turn (edge right to turn left) and that you really can’t carve a turn in most sea kayaks due to their length and lack of the rails that a WW kayak has.
Big rudder works great. It’s on the faster kayak CD Expedition the other is on an CD Extreme / Nomad.
I have a few different boats, some don’t need a skeg or rudder because they track well. These boats are generally not considered “playful”. Others are completely un-paddleable without the skeg, never mind edging it you have to put your blade in the water every 4-5 strokes and “Brake” on one side to get it back in direction and without the skeg you’d never be able to glide or plane or make it anyhwhere. It depends on the boat.
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I have to say Celia, that this one struck me as funny. As a whitewater paddler who has spent a lot of time spinning and paddling in circles, what is going to test my resolve is a boat that really wants to go straight. 
You do the same thing in whitewater - correct at the top of the wave where the stems are free. Ocean waves are bigger and more frequent - not sure I’d want to be covering miles that way.
Also something that you frequently do in a canoe, but as bnystrom said, not going to be an option for me in the sea kayak that I bought - its snug
I took an intro class yesterday, but we didn’t cover edging. Leaning to the outside of the turn is going to be different.