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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 5:09 am 
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Location: Point Lookout, Maryland
We went down to the lower end of Maryland on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay to use the town of Crisfield as our base for a long weekend. This video is of our trip out to Smith Island, home of the official state dessert of Maryland - the Smith Island Cake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Island,_Maryland) - appropriate since it was my birthday.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfFyPbeTYjs[/youtube]

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:42 am 
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Location: Texas
Good video.

How did the steering with paddle go? Could you do that for a long distance. I really need to practice that!

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:47 pm 
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Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia
Nice video Mitch.

It's interesting to see how the other half live when you're on the other side of the world. (I appreciate the locale is a small dot somewhere).

Keep 'em up.

I'll have my own effort up shortly as soon as I learn how to remove the original audio (the sail flap flap flap flap...... you know what I mean) and replace with music.

Ken.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 3:39 am 
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Steering with the paddle while under sail and at speed is manageable, and I did it for about 4 miles of the 10 mile return trip. It takes some patience, muscle and finesse to make it work - but it can certainly take over in the event of rudder failure, as we had that day. We will be replacing the curved Hobie paddle with a straight paddle, as the curved one introduces too much correction that then has to be corrected in some fashion.

What *is* surprising is the tremendous load that the water places on the blade when moving at anything above a knot or so - it's no wonder we keep reading of rudder failures and steering problems.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 5:31 am 
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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.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 2:52 am 
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What I found - for me - is that the paddle has to be moved from side to side really quickly at times, and the further back it is close to the rudder, the better the steering response.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 10:22 am 
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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! :shock:

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 06, 2010 1:02 pm 
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Great clip Mitch - please give some info re camera and editing software.
Thanks


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 3:46 am 
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davew wrote:
Great clip Mitch - please give some info re camera and editing software.

Glad you like it. The camera is a Sony TX-5 and we're using iMovie on an older MacBook Pro to produce the videos.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:04 am 
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NOHUHU, good point. I forgot to practice yesterday. Doh!

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 5:20 am 
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We've got a flat blade paddle en route - it should arrive before we set out for next weekend.

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:00 pm 
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Location: Kailua 96734
Great Mitch. Hopefully you can fit that in the front hatch when it's not needed.

Hobie also makes a plastic T-handle you can insert into the female end of most existing paddles to turn it into an OC-1 paddle. For $10 or so. Part 74049001.

I carry this in the net glove compartment and have used with half my paddle to steer/paddle in cases of rudder failure. I also changed my 2-piece paddle to a stiffer non-hobie brand with a slight curve and an angled bottom edge. Too much curve impedes the rudder effect.

With the sail out full, I can keep things under control in 15-20mph winds but keep in mind my boat is an AI. The TI could be a handful, so I look forward to reports from rudderless TI owners. (Done intentionally, that is). :wink:

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 2:19 am 
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NOHUHU wrote:
Too much curve impedes the rudder effect.

With the sail out full, I can keep things under control in 15-20mph winds but keep in mind my boat is an AI. The TI could be a handful, so I look forward to reports from rudderless TI owners. (Done intentionally, that is).

That's exactly why we're going with a flat blade - better control when being used as a rudder while under full sail in higher winds. The new one will take the place of the Hobie paddle that came with the TI, as the curved Hobie blade makes it hard to control. Also, the Hobie blade really *bends* when trying to steer while in challenging conditions; I wanted something that is beefier.

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