I bought my husband a tandem kayak for christmas (Necky Manitou II). I have taken it out before with one of my kids in front and me in the back. My husband has also taken it out with a kid in the front. The boat tracked great and wa easy to paddle. Today we took it out together on a lake, with him in the back. We could NOT go straight, the boat kept going to the left, and it was hard to paddle. What are we doing wrong?
(I love this board, you all have been such a help!)
L
– Last Updated: Mar-10-09 3:13 PM EST –
weight distribution!!! either that or your husband kept paddling on the right.. bottom line to much weight in the front of the boat!! i have the same problem in my Pamlico 160. With the daughter in it, no problems, with the wife, the boat wants to swap ends!!
Are you both Democrats?
Was it windy?
That alone might make the difference. Also, do you paddle singles as well? The reason I ask is that that might reveal if one or both of you is pulling to one side.
In the meantime, use the rudder.
are you both right-handed? NM
Gee, thanks for saying I’m fat 
Yes, we are both right handed. I paddle a single regularly but he has only a couple of times. It was a bit windy but not too bad. There is no rudder. Does any of that help?
If you are both right handed
try shortening your strokes slightly on the right. What you need is a lot more seat time together, it will mesh after a while.
Strengthening the weaker side
…would be a better long-term tactic.
you are married
That’s where you went wrong. Tandems and marriage are like oil and water.
As stated before , most folks are a bit
their dominant arm than the other , so in yer case right , which causes the yak to bare left , so it’s a matter of increaseing the left or decreasing the right . Does the person in back follow the cadence set by the bow paddler ? Fast soluntion–take two stokes on the left an one on the right-figure out how often to do this to get er straight .
M