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I have a Petrel Play on the way and am planning on installing a skeg during the build. I have found a few aftermarket options. The fin boxes are ABS so would be installed with gflex. The boxes have options of flush mount or a flange that would sit on the outside of the hull. I am thinking the outside flange would be easier to install but may add drag.
The flush mount would probably look better, but would it be much more difficult to do a flush mount fin box? I am thinking I would have to cut the hole, then glass the hulll, install the fin box with the gflex and then sand it flush on the bottom.
Does that sound right?
6 replies:
RE: Petrel Play Skeg
For what it's worth, I put a skeg in a wooden box on my CLC West River 18. That's a stitch and glue with a multi-chine hull that has a V shape on the bottom 2 panels. I made it a flush mount by cutting the slot wide enough for the box to fit through, mounting it so that it stuck through the slot and then trimming and sanding it before glassing the hull.
I mounted it off the center line and used various levels and templates to make sure that the box was truly vertical and parallel to the boat's centerline. The box was tacked into place with dabs of epoxy, then filleted and glassed to permanently attach it to the hull.
So it is quite possible to mount a skeg box off-center and flush with the hull with the skeg blade being truly vertical if you don't mind some extra fussing with things.
Laszlo
RE: Petrel Play Skeg
I built the PP with the optional skeg this past winter over 7 months. I find it necessary for tracking in flat water. I've not had it out in waves/surf. Adding It didn't add a significant amount of work to the build. I didn't track my time but I'm guessing that it probably took about 8 hours. I glued a small "L" tab of wood to the bottom edge of the aft access port to hold the control cable tube away from the opening. It needed a wire tie to affix the tubing to the tab.
I posted a set of notes about my build: https://www.clcboats.com/forum/clcforum/thread/56997.html
Overall the build went smoothly and I found the manual to be accurate with few omissions. I regularly receive admiring comments about it.
RE: Petrel Play Skeg
If you are like one person I know and you can't remember to put the skeg up when landing on a muddy beach maybe a skeg isn't for you. I have another one to repair.
RE: Petrel Play Skeg
» Submitted by Mark N - Thu, 8/24/23 » 4:24 PM
This is the KayakSport skeg kit without flange. I basically followed the directions to install (https://kajaksport.fi/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/KS-Skeg-Pro-Instruction.pdf). Mine was a retrofit so the hull was already glassed. Basically, the bottom of the skeg box is glued to the wood on the inside of the boat. I used thickened epoxy after first cleaning and roughing up the plastic. Then I added a thick fillet around the entire thing. On the bottom all you see is a slot in the wood. It has worked well no problems for the last 5 years but I am regular about washing it out after use and hitting it with a spot of lubrication before use.
I mounted it centerline for two reasons. First, as a retrofit I had to work through the hatch opening so I positioned the skeg where I could best reach all sides. Secondly, this is a S&G version so the hull shape is a V. If mounted on either side of centerline, the skeg would be at a significant angle from vertical.