it was obvious
…and my reply was to clyde. we’re good.
You break your own skeg or cable
But I would personally rather avoid the repair and come in without the aid of it as much as possible. Really messy gel coat repairs and running new rigging is as much as I am good at doing on a boat.
you try “scooping up a boat”
…with 50 liters of water holding it down and surf pushing it around, and let us know how that works out for you.
When to retract skeg
Good, I’m getting the answer to my original question of WHEN to retract the skeg.
While the majority of sea kayakers prefer to retract their skeg BEFORE entering the surf zone to be on the safe side of not running aground with the skeg down, the ski paddler who also paddle seakayak prefers to make use of the skeg in the surf zone and only retract the skeg right before landing.
So basically I got answers from both camp that either way can work. Though I think I’ll first try the way of seakayakers, which is retracting the skeg BEFORE entering the surf zone.
The only time
I’ve seen surf skis and outriggers hit the beach broached, but none of them still had a paddler. These boats are really not designed for such an activity. Sure, I know it CAN happen, but I just haven’t seen it.
Certainly, skegs would not survive on such craft if allowed to enter shallows in this manner. So, probably, the paddlers do what you said and exit before landing.
Rick