T keels
Posted by: pblanc
on Oct-26-12 7:46 AM (EST)
I do volunteer work for a nature society that runs day trips on a local creek that is commonly pretty shallow, at least in spots.
We had a Grumman with a T keel donated to us. The boat is in pretty good condition.
We will use it on lakes and ponds, but we have given up using it on the creek. Whoever is paddling it invariably gets it hung up, not once, but multiple times. Of course, paddlers get our Royalex boats hung up at times as well, but not anywhere near as frequently.
In shallow water, it isn't uncommon to have some portion of the hull in contact with the stream bottom at times. With a T keel canoe it is invariably the keel fin. When attempting to maneuver around an obstacle by turning or side slipping, that keel just digs in.