prudenceb Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Love my new Cetus MV! However, I have been repeatedly cutting - sometimes rather bloodily (ask Bob Levine!), the knuckle of my left thumb when I'm paddling backward. When I'm pushing forward on the left side, my thumb sometimes scrapes against the back edge of the skeg control, which is very sharp plastic, as I have discovered. Any suggestions on how to smooth that edge out? Does filing plastic work? Should I put a bead of some kind of epoxy along the edge to smooth it out? Cover it with duct tape?Or should I just encase my thumb in duct tape so that it doesn't get injured when I do inevitably brush up against the slider. Anyone else ever have this problem?Is this the silliest question ever posted here?pru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BethS Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I think I get it but I'd have to see it to be certain about what you mean, however I will say that filing plastic or even just gently sanding it works fine for smoothing out sharp edges. Not a silly question! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lallen Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Pru, I just did the exact same thing on my Cetus LV yesterday. Not even sure exactly how, but it was on the skeg slider... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lallen Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 By the way, not something I've done often... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancy Hill Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Pru, the same thing happens to me with my Fuego skeg control. I tried filing it to be smoother and that helped a little (kept me from drawing blood), but I still hit the darn thing. I finally wrapped a piece of thin neoprene around it and glued it so it would stay. It's not pretty, but makes it a lot softer when I do hit it. When I was in Iceland, I paddled an Explorer with the skeg control that was remarkably low and not at all in the way. In fact, I just checked a photo and see that it was right along the deck seam. I don't recall seeing a skeg control so low on any other kayak. It was great. There was no way I was going to hit it. I will definitely consider where the skeg control is on my next kayak, not only for my thumb, but for my paddle. I have taken quite a few chunks out of my Greenland Paddle on the darn skeg control. Let me know if you come up with a good idea.-Nancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Nystrom Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Can you post a picture of the skeg control? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlewis Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 If you are regularly hitting the skeg control while paddling, I think you need to adjust your stroke, whether or not it actually cuts you -- bruises are no fun either, and it also likely reduces efficiency considerably. I haven't seen your forward stroke, but has to be pretty low or close to the boat near the cockpit for that to happen, probably outside the range of reasonable efficiency whether you hit anything or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted August 27, 2013 Author Share Posted August 27, 2013 It doesn't happen on the forward stroke. It happens if I am paddling backwards - often rather rapidly to get out of a spot I don't want to be in. On the forward stroke it is impossible to hit your hand on the back of the skeg controller that you grip to move the skeg.[prups - it doesn't happen every day -just often enough that same place on my thumb gets cut now and again. Even once is rtoo many times considering how sharply the piece cuts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted August 27, 2013 Author Share Posted August 27, 2013 Can you post a picture of the skeg control?Here's a picture - it's taken from the back, facing toward the bow of the boat, so it shows the back of the skeg controller. On the Cetus, the skeg is controlled by two pieces that you pinch together and then move back. The offending piece is the rear of the two. It has the rounded top on this perhaps hard to see photo. It is the back side of this rounded-top piece that I've cut myself on. I'm wondering whether just to file/sand - as Beth suggests - or to try and put something on the top back side of the skeg controller so that if I hit it by mistake, I won't end up bleeding!pru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Try adding more rotation from your core. This should keep your hands away from the deck.Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Some fine sand paper should get rid of the sharp edge. Or even a sanding sponge, the plastic will smooth out quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djlewis Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 It doesn't happen on the forward stroke. It happens if I am paddling backwards - often rather rapidly to get out of a spot I don't want to be in. On the forward stroke it is impossible to hit your hand on the back of the skeg controller that you grip to move the skeg.[prups - it doesn't happen every day -just often enough that same place on my thumb gets cut now and again. Even once is rtoo many times considering how sharply the piece cuts!Whoops, sorry... forgot that it was backwards paddling. Well, sharp edges or not, it's still probably a good idea to become more conscious of your backwards stroke and adjust it, even in emergencies.Speaking of sharp edges... When I first took my plastic avocet to a pool session (many years ago), after half an hour of rolling practice I popped the skirt looked inside and saw profuse bleeding down both legs. Upon inspection, I saw there was a raw plastic edge on the knee braces which had made a couple of nasty incisions on my knees (still have the scars). I hadn't noticed it before, because I had been in a wet or dry suit at the end of the paddling season, and that protected my knees. Solution -- duct tape over the raw edge -- couldn't really stop pushing the brace with my knee to roll. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Nystrom Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Looking at the picture, there appears to be plenty of material there than can be rounded over by sanding, as others have suggested. Another option would be to fill in the offending area with epoxy putty, creating a smooth surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prudenceb Posted August 28, 2013 Author Share Posted August 28, 2013 Thanks everyone for your suggestions about how to make the skeg control less unforgiving.Of course what would be optimal would be having such a perfect stroke forward and back that one never hits anything that one shoudn't. But perfection is just a goal. The price for failing to reach it shouldn't be shedding blood!pru Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brambor Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Give Blood - Go Kayaking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pintail Posted August 28, 2013 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Ooh! Yet another opportunity to advocate removing the offending piece of equipment -- oh, never mind. (I always knew they were more trouble than they are worth!) ;^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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