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Installing a Retractable Skeg
If you paddle open water, you'll occasionally come upon conditions of wind and sea in which even the best-tracking kayak will broach or weathercock. A rudder is the common solution to these problems, but some paddlers don't like the complexity, looks, or cost of a rudder system. Like the feathers on an arrow, a skeg is just the thing for those conditions. Skegs are a marvelous improvement to a sea kayak except for one problem: you don't always need them. A fixed skeg can represent underwater drag, and sometimes it'll make you track too well. Thus, a retractable skeg is just the fix.
4mm marine plywood sides and 3/8" spacers create a hollow box for the 1/4" thick skeg, in the manner of a sailboat centerboard trunk. Build the box taller than the centerline height of the boat at the point where you plan to install the box. A 1/4" wooden dowel is the pivot for the skeg. Epoxy it in place so that it will never leak. 
The skeg itself should be made out of marine plywood and coated with epoxy. So that it can be installed (and removed if necessary), cut a notch in the bottom of the skeg to fit over the pivot dowel.
CLC sells plans and full skeg kits.
