Paddling the Revolution

IMO, the daggerboard would not be helpful in your situation. Since the daggerboard resists lateral movement and the boat's center of lateral resistance is lower with the daggerboard, this would exacerbate a tendency to roll outboard with a turn (where the stern is moved laterally by the rudder). Likewise, in the case of beam swells or chop, the daggerboard retards the boat's tendency to "slide" with the swell, causing it to heel more than without it. Your best strategy would be to keep your seat as low as possible, keep any added gear as low as possible to lower your CG. Also, keeping your boat balanced, bow to stern, or "on its lines" gives the boat its maximum stability. More weight in the stern (fairly common with fishing gear) tends to destabilize the boat to the extent of the imbalance. If that's the case, drop some weight in the bow (as forward as possible) to counterbalance (a couple of dumbbells will do). This will also lower your center of gravity somewhat. Try it and see if it works for you.

... I just made one up out of an acrylic chopping board

If you fish it acts like a sea anchor when slowly drifting sideways to slow you down. If you anchor from the rear it will reduce swinging in the breeze.

I find it a handy tool ...

These are the highlights for me but all round reat advice again.
Thanks to you experts I don't have to learn from scratch!!!

A lot of users think the Revolution series tracks too poorly to paddle. This can be true. There is no skeg to speak of -- this is so rudder response can be enhanced. On the other hand, the Revos can be easily set up to track flawlessly. Below is an example -- a Revo 11 paddled for over 1 1/2 hours without once pausing to adjust the rudder. This includes all turns shown:



The key is to use the rudder as a substitute skeg. In order to do that successfully, the rudder doesn't move, once set. Since the boats expand and contract with temperature, rudder lines can get slack. This is easily correctly by removing any slack at the starboard rudder connection with a Phillips head screwdriver. With the rudder locked down and straight, all slack should be removed and a little tension introduced. If the rudder handle still moves freely, a small piece of nylon strap (or comparable) can be slipped under the rudder handle to keep it from moving without input. All turns can then be handled by the paddle and edging (tilting the boat slightly away from the turn). The Revo 11 and 13 respond well to edging, the Revo 16 less so. Likewise, the Revo 11 responds to turns best because of its short length.

Any of the Hobie rudders work, but the large rudder offers better control IMO. My all-time favorite is this customized large rudder. It is clipped shorter than the small rudder, has outstanding shallow water capabilities and retains excellent authority with relatively low drag.



Not only can the Revo 11 be made to track beautifully, you may notice it are pretty fast, even when paddling. It has a "sweet spot" between 4.0 and 4.3MPH where it really moves efficiently. Personally, I think this hull is the fastest 11' plastic boat on the market, bar none. I'm not a great paddler, but cruising at 4.3 was not difficult. If you do this, a suggestion (if you're not using the Mirage Drive) -- tape over the Drive well (plastic packing tape works great), leave a slit for drainage, and install the drivewell plug to prevent sloshing. Happy paddling!

Roadrunner any ideas on what to do when in water that is too shallow to use the rudder? I just picked up a 2016 Revo 13 and took it out for the first time this past weekend. I was coastal marsh fishing and in many areas the water was less than 12" deep.

Also turning to the right seemed to be an issue at times. Maybe it was the wind but there were a couple of times when I was in water deep enough to pedal and use the rudder (fully deployed) and could not turn right at all. I had to turn to the left in a complete circle then once I was moving in a forward direction was able to turn to the right. Is this normal?

The rudder shown above should be good down to almost 8" of water. As you can see below, it is cut from the large rudder but is shorter than the standard rudder.





Without the rudder down, the boat is not directionally stable.

Your rudder needs to be fully down and secured tightly by locking the rudder down line in the jamb cleat (shown here). If not locked down, the boat will tend to turn to port.



Also. your rudder control lines should be snug -- no slack. Adjust at the rudder.

I haven't broken one since the Twist N Stow rudder system came out 14 years ago. BTW, the boats come with a spare rudder pin in one of the hatch lids. It's a good idea to verify that it's there.

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This is kind of getting away from the topic but with one modification the center hatch storage is actually awesome. I took pool noodles and inserted them in the hull across the kayak both under the seat and just behind where the pedal drive is molded in. This created an area for me to store stuff inside the round hatch. I used an old yoga mat and glued pieces of mat to the bottoms of my Plano 3600 tackle boxes to dampen the sound of me moving them around and to keep them from sliding around. I can now fit as many as 5 of these tackle boxes inside the hatch without the hatch bucket of course. And they don't go anywhere. Love it!