the slider is very hard to move and has no effect on lowering the undeployed skeg from the hull. there is no debris visible around the hull slit opening. How do I repair it?
Try lubricating the cable…
SOUNDS LIKE A KINKED CABLE
MadMD-
Try lubing it -it just may work.
However, you may -probably -have kinked your slider cable. In that case, you’ll need to take it out, fix the kink -unlikely -or far more likely need to replace the cable. It probably jammed either when you hit or pushed on the skeg while it was deployed, were still able to retract it, but now it won’t deploy when pushing the slider at the cockpit.
Sometimes just pushing the skeg in an inch will jamb the cable system and kink the cable. My brother-in-law thought he was being helpful one time and “retracted” the slightly extended skeg on My Valley Aquanaut. That short throw jammed the cable and irreparably kinked it. It’s a DIY job -I’ve done it three times -once on my wife’s Hurricane Tracer, twice on my Valley Aquanaut. First time took me three or four hours and two cables because I took a seemingly sensible shortcut. The last time I did the right thing -read and FOLLOWED the instructions, and ittook me less than an hour.
Query “stuck skeg slider cable” on the net to get the how-to on ordering cables and addressing the problem.
Good luck -may you quickly get it fixed so you can shortly be back on the waters and
PADDLE ON!
-Frank in Miami
I’ve been living with a kinked cable
for two or three years on my WS Zephyr. It is kinked at the cockpit end. They can also kink at the skeg end. If I hold my slider and the first few inches of cable just right I am able to deploy it and retracting is no problem. I bought a new cable but I have not had the time to fix it. Looks like DIY but also looks like the kind of thing I might get into and then find it is over my head.
it’s not too bad
I felt the same way the firs time I replaced mine. But it’s not so bad, you can do it.
Here’s a link to instructions from Valley but thre are other instructions online.
http://www.kayakacademy.com/pages/tips/Skeg_Repair/Valley_Sea_Kayak_Skeg_Cable_Repair_pre-2011.html
Just have to find the time -
– Last Updated: Aug-14-14 10:03 AM EST –
I'll do it one of these years!
Seems to me that the design of the slider/skeg system is poor. It is very easy to kink a cable on these W.S. boats. Mine kinked at the slider when I pushed a bit too hard to deploy the skeg at a time when unbeknownst to me there was a pebble in the skeg box preventing the skeg from moving. Are there other designs out there?
I should say that since that experience, which was a newbie experience, I am more careful about lauching and landing in a way that reduces the chance of pebbles getting stuck in the box and I check it each time I launch. I have not had further problems so it could well be that it was just my own carelessness.
Well,
I am a complete idiot and I’ve made skeg line repairs multiple times with no problems. You can do it!
I hear you
Every time I use my skeg slider (delicately) I think, “there has to be a better “mousetrap””.
Not familiar with WS boats
but if they’re similar to Valley, it’s not difficult. Once you do it the first time it’s very straightforward and only takes 20 minutes or so. While you’re at it, drill a hole near the point of the skeg and tie a short loop of cord through it to pull down & dislodge debris to avoid damaging the cable.