TxYackMan wrote:
Thanks Mitch.
My next outing I will practice this.
What if I tied or secured a paddle to one of Akas to give me a leverage point? Might work and save some muscle power if one had to travel a large distance.
On the AI you could. But on your TI, the Akas are in front of the rear seat.
Mitch's technique looks perfect for this seating position, (if you have the long paddle). It reaches the stern, near the effective position of the rudder. It might work to lash the paddle shaft to the carry handles if you expect to hold one course for a few miles. A quick wrap of one-handed velcro should do the trick.
The soft, curved hobie paddle makes a poor replacement rudder compared to a hard flat-bladed model, so many of us carry a stiffer paddle or a outrigger style half paddle with a T-grip. You might find this style easier to leverage against the hull or tie to the Aka. Controlling the twisting the shaft adds a degree of fine tuning to your course. It's still a workout, though.
Broke one of the new grey rudder pins recently and decided to test this, like Mitch. I'm thinking I will put the rudder up on most sails for awhile to practice this technique in different sailing conditions. Together with learning to steer with the sail, I'm hoping it will become second nature.
Maybe you TI'ers could try paddle steering with 2 people/2 paddles. If you hit on a combination that works well with your larger sail, let us know.
Oh,..and don't forget to leash your paddles!