How do i keep my kayak straight? I seem to always veer to one side. I'm trying very hard already.
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Anonymous
ANSWERS: 5
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Several things: 1. The longer the kayak, the less is sways from side to side. If possible, choose a longer kayak. 2. Stroke as close to the boat as possible. If the paddle goes into the water further away from the boat, it'll make it veer. 3. Little strokes are better than big strokes. Any time the paddle blade is in the water and behind you, it is counter-productive. 4. Don't oversteer. 5. Don't overcorrect oversteering. 6. Find a point far away and make that your target. Whenever the boat deviates just the slightest amount from going directly at your target, correct it a tiny amount with a stronger stroke on that side.
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I'm in no way a kayaking expert! I have the same problem. Do you always veer to the same side? I do and it's becuase i'm stronger with one arm than the other. When I concentrate on not pulling so hard with my right arm, I'm a lot straighter, but then I forget and start veering again! Another tip I've been told is to pick a spot in the distance that you're aiming for, rather than just trying to go straight. Hope this helps and have fun out on the water!
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even leaning a little bit to one side or the other while you are paddling can turn the kayak. Try paddling and leaning to the right and then stop paddling the boat is going to turn towards the right side. If you are a whitewater kayaker, once you understand what eddying out and peeling out of eddys are and pretty much how the river works..you'll get used to it and learn a lot. Also like pigeonpower was saying find a spot at distance (if you aren't doing anything difficult) and keep looking at it until you get there. When i first started i found that looking at the trees, birds, whatever put me pointing in the wrong direction everytime. i wanted to go straight but if i was looking at something on the bank, i would start venturing off there..slowly so i'd barely recognize it. When i first started i was a 15 yo clueless female. Now ive been doing it for 5 years..i've learned a lot.
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I'm venturing a guess you don't have either a skeg or a rudder. The term you're talking about is weathercocking. I get battered by it in the river by my house. In addition to the other responses here, I would shift the paddle in your grip to the side that the kayak keeps turning. This will put the paddle in the water further away from the kayak and assist in correcting the weathercocking. If you put the paddle in the water close to the hull, you will get good propulsion but it will not help in countering the shifting of the boat.
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Hi there, it might help to ensure your kayak is 'trimmed' properly also... I just found this out this week and if you have foam buoyancy or airbags in your kayak you must make sure they are all level and equal or you will be leaning to one side. Even without "weathercocking" you will find your weight distributed to one side will make you veer to the other. Similarly, if you have more bouyancy on one side you might veer to the other. Also in the same respect, if you find you are having to lean forwards a lot to make the bow (tip) of the kayak stay lower in the water you might find that your centre-point of balance is too far back and that you need extra buoyancy back there. If you lean back the boat will turn more easilly and so a less "floaty" back-end will cause you to turn in just the same manner. To combat this, raise the back end with flotation devices and bring the nose of the craft lower to the surface of the water and the rear of the craft higher from (this will only be a few centimeters)... it works for me!
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