My wife and I recently bought an inflatable, tandem kayak. I grew up canoeing and we've had many enjoyable outings on the water together, so I thought two-person kayaking would be relatively easy. When I take the craft out solo, I find it very responsive, easy to steer, and (for a recreational-class craft) straight-tracking.
But when I take someone else out, it's a different boat. We can't steer and the tracking is all over the map. It's not just the extra weight—when I ask the other person to stop paddling, the craft becomes sensible again. Obviously, we're doing something wrong. In a canoe, I can teach my partner the basic stroke and we can get into the water right away. But a kayak doesn't seem to work that way.
Google gives lots of results but they can be divided roughly into two categories:
- "Tandem kayaks require teamwork" (Really?)
- Fairly technical discussions about strokes and weight distribution and the purpose of skegs/rudders and etc.
What none of the results (or at least none that I've found) explain is how an experienced paddler can guide their partner to work as a team. Any suggestions?