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Steering with wind or on a river does not work well
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Author:  Cor [ Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:17 am ]
Post subject:  Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

in the last 2 weeks I went fishing on a river and last saturday with a lot of wind and noticed that steering under these conditions sucks. I had the steering handel all the way to the right and when I started pedalling the pa went straight forward for at least 15 ft until it started to turn the right way. A few times it even went to other Side. This is not how it should be.
Could it be because the rudder doesn't go very deep into the water?
Are more People hoving this problem?

Greetings

Author:  EZrider [ Wed Jun 26, 2013 9:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

Ive had my PA for about 4 years now. I fish 95% in saltwater here in NY. The LI sound can have some drastic luner tides as well as wind. I havent had steering issues that your talking about. Mind you my PA is one of the older ones. I have the drum upgrade Hobbie sent me but havent put it on yet. Not sure if that might have something to do with it or not ? Is there slack in your control lines ? Do you ballast the PA ?

Author:  TDK [ Wed Jun 26, 2013 10:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

I've definitely experienced the slow steering response you refer to under these conditions. This is really a matter of building enough momentum with the pedals to have adequate water flowing past the rudder for it to work effectively. With wind and current, you have both of those forces working against you reaching adequate speed. Plus, the PA catches a lot of air from the side, so this will absolutely affect your turning ability. I think this is true with just about any boat, but is amplified with the substantial sides of the PA. I don't think there is anything wrong in what you are experiencing, it is just a characteristic of the PA and a trade-off you make to get the benefits of size, stability and capacity. I have found that in these conditions a couple of good paddle strokes on the side opposite where I want to turn, along with hard pedaling, really helps to get the turn started and the rudder working efficiently

On one memorable trip, My brother and I were pushing our 2010 PA 14's hard to beat a storm that was blowing in. The exit from the reservoir we were on is a shallow, winding and narrow creek for about 200 yards . The gust front that hit with the storm pinned our PAs against the creek bank and we couldn't make any real progress. It was a hairy situation with lots of overhanging trees. Thankfully, we escaped with everything intact.

Author:  Tom Kirkman [ Wed Jun 26, 2013 10:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

It's because the rudder is on the back of the boat (or near the back of the boat). There is nothing wrong with your boat nor with the design of the PA.

Boats are not cars. They move on and across the water very easily. There is little in the way of "traction" to be had. With enough wind at the right angle, the bow of the boat will be blown downwind. The only remedy is to pedal faster and attempt to keep the head closer into the wind.

These are boats. This is how they act in weather. There is a limit as to what the PA, or any boat, can withstand in terms of weather before it (they) become difficult to handle.

Author:  islandspeed2001 [ Wed Jun 26, 2013 11:20 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

You are going to learn that you are going to be blow around in your PA. Like Tom stated, the rudder is set rather far forward and is fairly small so that they could get it to fold up and under your kayak. One thing that you will learn is that your Mirage Drive will act as a pivot if you have them down but not under power. If you are not peddling, keep them folded up against the keel and you will find that you will track straighter.

Yes, every once in a while I cuss the handling of my PA in high winds or when I have a strong current pushing me. But your PA is like a good wife..... You will cuss her everyone once in a while but you love her to death :mrgreen:

Author:  Tom Kirkman [ Wed Jun 26, 2013 1:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

Believe it or not, but a larger rudder will exacerbate the problem in many instances. The rudder is offering resistance in the water so the wind cannot blow it around as easily as it can the bow which offers less resistance. You should experience what happens in the same situation with a Tandem Island, which has an absolutely huge rudder compared to the PA. Dropping the dagger board towards the bow helps, but does not eliminate the tendency of the bow to get blown around.

These are boats. This is how they act. This is what they do.

Author:  AllElectricPA14 [ Wed Jun 26, 2013 5:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

This works just fine. I got sick and tired of the PA not running straight in any condition and when we tried to use it in the strong currents in the channels between keys in Florida I just had to do something to get more control authority. The rudders deflect together as the twist and stow steering cables are connected to the quadrant on the OEM PA rudder. Best improvement I have made to the PA. Well maybe equal to putting on outriggers.

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Author:  Jenko [ Sat Jun 29, 2013 3:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

The PA's rudder is mostly out of the water and on choppy water is near usless. In windy conditions the PA won't turn and trying to turn from a standing start is near impossible unless you pump the peddles to get momentum then turn....in short the steering sucks. I got sick of this and made my own rudder and it's made a 100% improvement on the standard one, I can turn from a standing start and tracks better.

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Author:  RockyRaab [ Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Steering with wind or on a river does not work well

You have to have a minimum forward speed for ANY rudder to work, be it a boat or an airplane. In boating, it's called "steerage way." Just guessing, but in my PA14 it seems to be about 0.5 mph, or a slow walking speed. Slower than that and the rudder simply has no "bite" to turn the craft.

I disagree completely that the PA's steering sucks. It just is what it is, and it obeys the laws of physics and hydrodynamics. I was recently out in a pretty stiff wind, and with a landing net and an ice chest behind me, that much "sail" area caused the PA to turn into the wind, despite full opposite rudder - unless I kept my speed up. That obviated slow trolling, but allowed a nice drift with a drift chute out.

Learn your boat and what it can do - and can't. Nothing is perfect, but the PA is pretty darn close as a fishing boat.

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