Yeah and I think it's mental too .. I've seen this with my recent experencies alone...

I rode the strongest part of flood last Saturday morning and made an over 8 mile cruise in about hour - ten. It's taken me as much as 2+ hours to do that same trip under harder conditions..

It is for sure, exhilerating when mother nature gives you a little boost in performance. I love it when the wind and tide team up and get behind me.

Statute miles. 36 miles typically takes me around 8 hrs. Thats just a little over 4mph, so its no speed record there. I do that about once every 4-5 weeks as part of my endurance training.
I will do a 12-20 mile paddle twice every week for more intense training. An all day trip is early AM till dark, depending on what time of year can be 16 hrs. It's not hard to cover some huge distances especially on rivers.
I use a QCC 700x
Sorry I was so late in replying. Wasn't paying attention

Smollet, thanks for your reply. Am I correct in assuming that you do not paddle continuously for either 8 or 16 hours? At 7.5 hours actually paddling time for 36 miles, that gives 4.8 mph--pretty respectable! Am I also correct in assuming that you are working tides both ways on your river outings? Or are you working eddies upstream and running with the current downstream?

I work eddies upstream and ride current downstream. On a full day paddle I will usually stop for lunch, but thats often just two Clif bars and something to drink, and not more than 30 minutes. On the shorter paddles, I usually do not stop. I will stop paddling long enough to eat something usually once an hour, but thats just long enough to put food into my mouth. I actually enjoy grinding away like that more than recreational "sightseeing" type paddling.
Might just be weird

It is a personal thing I feel, as there are many angles which this argument may take. It's better for a beginner or less confidant paddler to have it but not need it, and use it only when necessary.
I however prefer to paddle a narrow, hard chine, deep V, fish form greenland style kayak. I prefer they way the boat handles in rough water, and she responds nicely to bulge steering and turning strokes. This makes me a minority paddler in New Zealand where most paddlers use a rudder. However if I was to try and paddle 40 miles/day like the legendary Kiwi Paul Caffin I would defiantly add a rudder. It is a personal choice! are you a purist who seeks paddling perfection or are you one who wishes to slip away form the city for a few days of bathing in nature using the boat purely as a mode of transport?

You raise another consideration in your post, Jeremy--to what degree a sea kayaker is involved in--experienced in--the activity. In previous posts in this thread, I postulated that there are 3 distinct types of sea kayakers: explorers, players, and racers, and that one's style of kayaking could be plotted on a triangular grid with those 3 categories as "pure" endpoints--but of course any particular sea kayaker can locate him/herself anywhere on the grid, depending on the mix of one's interests. In my own local kayaking group, we have a few pure racers--fitness/speed lovers paddling surf skis or go-fast kayaks (often solo)--many players paddling SOF Inuit boats or their fiberglass equivalents, or surf kayaks, and who spend almost all their time on the water perfecting their braces and rolls (usually very social)--and a few explorers (I am one), who paddle all day using their boats to go places and see things (often solo). But most of our paddlers are more well-rounded and balanced kayakers, enjoying almost equally all 3 of these styles of kayaking.

Your post, though, suggests to me that a further refinement adds another dimension to the triangular grid, one at right angles to the grid itself that would show the degree of experience of and commitment to sea kayaking--from casual/novice where it's too early for a paddler to have figured out what style they prefer--to committed/experienced enough for the paddler to have evolved into being whatever type of paddler that bests suits their interests. I realize that this is not the equivalent of the Theory of Relativity, but I find it's fun to think about sea kayaking styles/tendencies in this manner.

New to the sport I think I would opt for a rudder after renting a Solstice. If I don't want it I pop it up. It did seem to me that a rudder slowed me more than 3%. If I was going 6 mph I would then have to feel a .18 mph loss. Not sure if I could but I did feel something.

When in conditions that cause us to use our rudders I'm guessing the 3% slowing caused by the rudder is more than made up for by not having to make corrective stokes.

It's interesting that most long distance paddlers use boats with rudders. Both round Australia trips were finished with boats that had rudders.

As I've said before for most of us rudder is a misnomer we use it more as a trim tab to keep our boats going straight when in quartering wind and waves. When I want to turn fast my rudder is up as I can turn a much sharper radius turn without it.

1) One advantage of skegs over rudders is foot support. I much prefer having my feet planted firmly on an unmovable surface. If one is doing much edging, a big advantage.

2) One of the big drawbacks of skegs is their getting jammed with pebbles. There is a simply solution to this: put a piece of duct tape over the skeg opening, with a piece of string/thin rope secured to the aft end of the tape. Run the string up to the bungee just forward of the cockpit. After launching from the beach, pull the tape off with the string. I've been doing this for a while, works quite easily. Other than getting jammed by pebbles, skegs should be quite reliable...just don't leave them down when landing or in very shallow water.

3) Sterlings Kayaks has a wonderful advance on skeg designs...they call it a skeel. It sits just behind the paddler, so it tends to stay submerged when on steep waves, and it doesn't inhibit turning much while deployed (unlike a stern-mounted skeg). They also designed the wire in a way which is really kink-proof: the entire length of the wire is always fully supported. If you were to run aground with it deployed, it would just push the wire/control forward, with no kinking.

Can you turn as fast with the rudder up in high winds, say 20+ knots and 2-3 foot chop? I can find that type of water in my local bays. I am just starting and I doubt I can or really know I cannot. I may need more skill.

The key to turning in wind and short steep chop is turn when a the ends of boat are out of the water and the center of the boat is on the crest of wave. The other key is, of course, practice. Keep track of your local wind forecast and find somewhere you will be blown onto a safe shore line to practice. In sea kayaking, "more skill" translates to performing the basic rescues and strokes in ever more challenging conditions.

Rudders are great for long crossings in a cross wind or traveling most efficiently from point A to B but are not that great if sliding around in rock gardens and surf are what you are into

As far as I know Sterling Kayaks make one of the best sea kayaks, its composite and it in USA. Other ones i know are in Europe.

The best is to have both, skeg and rudder. the biggest mistake people make is that they use rudder always and forget that you should learn to rudder you boat with paddle strokes and body. There is more to it but I cut it short.

You shouldnt forget that rudder can stop working or it may hurt someone during rescue, as its construction is sharp.

On waves, rudder may not be effective as it may happen to be in the air on a surf, hence skeg is needed.

Skeg is not so good in strong winds because it is hard to direct boat and lots of energy is used just for that.

I could make the case for no skeg, nor rudder, but I don't want to start that argument. It all depends on the overall design of the boat and to some degree the strength and skill of the paddler. I have found that in some conditions, you had better figure out how to turn the boat no matter what it is equipped with. When the wind gets strong enough, there are times when the strategic use of the paddle and pure brute force comes in handy for turning into the wind. It might not be elegant, but it works for me when nothing else does.

Some ruddered boats it would seem to me would nearly preclude some types of self rescue. It might get a little dicey trying to mount the boat from the stern, even with the rudder deployed. And then there are the integral rudders. It's nice to have choices.

The conversation's age is telling. I participate in a bike aid group, communication pre UTUBE was higher.

I ran thru the skeg/rudder before going Solstice/rudder. Experience includes small boat sailing, I leaned to skeg.

Then I read of trips with skegs ending in disaster when skegs were ripped off from brain fade I shallow water...eg the Vancouver speed circumnavigation.

NO SKEG ! Seriously, who needs the aggravation ?

If you need capacity for turning upwind then try a rockered hull. Long straight hulled Great Lakes cruisers-the Solstice- turn upwind but on a wave crest with skill, lean and strength...and foul weather language. \

Rockers simply turn around the center no language necessary.