[Rob Abbott wrote this article in February 2003. I have just moved it from the old KLRA website. Greig]
Rows Bud
Rob Abbott, February 2003
In an earlier article, Environmental Enhancements for The Older Outboard, I flippantly suggested replacing the outboard with a pair of oars. Well it wasn’t entirely a joke. Rowing is a great way to explore Kahshe, get some exercise, and if you have a passenger, you can face each other and have a cogent conversation without having to shout over the noise of a motor, or crane your neck around from the bow seat of a canoe. It’s also great for trolling and when solo, much easier to control in the wind and waves than a canoe.
In the first half of the last century, before outboard motors were practical and popular, rowboats were the primary method of getting around Kahshe and most other lakes. Limited to the fractional horsepower available from the human body, (some of us more fractional than others) rowing is the fastest and most efficient method of moving a boat. Alas, this statement does not apply to the ubiquitous aluminum utility with an outboard on the back, short heavy oars, ill-adjusted oarlocks, and sloppy sockets. This is probably the worst possible rowing craft, which sadly is most peoples’ rowboat experience. Imagine if your “canoeing” experience had been limited to using a water-ski to paddle a stranded pontoon boat to shore, and you get the idea. The typical utility is designed for planing speeds and a different set of hydrodynamic properties. To maximize the efficiency a rowboat should be long, narrow, pointed at both ends, the bottom should curve up at the ends, and have long oars. It should come as no surprise that what I’ve just described can usually be seen under the asses of Olympic rowers.
She Sculls Skiff Shells by the Peapod
While racing sculls and recreational versions of these specialized rowing shells are commercially available, for most part, they aren’t very practical for the cottager just looking to knockabout Kahshe. There are, however, some practical rowboats available from a number of retailers and builders. These are generally around 16 feet long and pointed at both ends (at least the underwater part). They are often referred to as a skiff or peapod and are excellent rowboats.
However, if another new boat does not fit your budget or shoreline, you might consider some of the alternatives described below:
Can-Do Canoe
You’ll note that the above description of a skiff sounds like a canoe. Most cottages have a canoe of some sort that could be easily modified for rowing. Besides the oars, which will be discussed later, the essentials are a seat, near the centre of the boat; some sort of brace for your feet (so you don’t have to rely on the friction under your butt); and an outrigger arrangement to get the pivot points for the oars further out for leverage. It’s possible to make all these modifications removable or reversible, but if you have one of those heavy, fibreglass, flat-bottom canoes, you might consider making the conversion permanent and getting a better canoe.
The seat should be about 4 to 6 inches below the gunwales and located (fore and aft) so that the canoe will sit level in the water with you, and your cargo, in it. If you plan to row solo, this means close to the centre, if you expect a passenger, towards the front end (but you’ll need to add some ballast if you use it solo). In some canoes, the bow seat is far enough back to use. Conversion will probably require removal of the canoe’s centre thwart; rivets or screws can be replaced with bolts and wing nuts if you want it convertible. The seat can be hung and fastened from the gunwales (similar to the canoe’s seats), or mounted on stringers, either fastened to the floor or hung and clamped to the underside of the seats.
Similarly, you’ll have to cobble some sort of brace for your feet to push against. I suggest that this be made adjustable or be located after your first sea trials so you can position them appropriately.
It won’t be pretty, but it’s probably easiest to make outriggers from some 2 x 4 lumber. To make room for getting in and to clear your knees and knuckles, this will probably have to be made in an “X” shape such that each board fastens to both gunwales, crossing at an angle, and extending beyond the sides of the canoe, so that the two ends are somewhere between 40 and 48 inches apart, and about 8 to 12 inches aft of the aft end of the rowing seat. Where the two boards cross, cut a section out of one so it lies flat and strengthen the joint with a gusset. Cut the ends of the outriggers off parallel to the canoe’s centreline and mount the oarlock sockets on the parallel ends. It is important that when the boat is being rowed, that the sockets are vertical, so if the outriggers are such that they’re extended pointing up or down, you’ll have to compensate accordingly when you mount the oarlock sockets.
Sloop John B
I suspect many of you have an old sailboat that rarely, if ever, gets used anymore. Many sailboat hull designs make reasonable rowboats. That’s because the part that is actually in the water (the part that matters) gives that streamlined pointed at both ends shape.
Like the canoe, the modifications can be made in such a way that its use as a sailboat is unaffected. Remove the mast, dagger board, rudder and any lines associated therewith. Fashion some sort of plug for the dagger board slot (out of wood, stuff it with pieces of appropriately shaped swim noodle foam, or just duct tape over it). This is to prevent the water from splooshing up the slot. If your sailboat is a Laser or other wet-sailer type, your seat is probably going to be a towel laid on the deck, or a board across the foot-well. If it’s a dry-sailer, it’s probably easiest to fashion some sort of thwart across the cockpit around the centreboard trunk.
You’ll have to fashion something to brace your feet against.
The gunwales are probably far enough apart so you won’t need outriggers. However, you’ll have to fashion some sort of pad on which to mount the oarlock sockets about 6 inches above the height of the seat (and about 8 to 12 inches aft of the aft end of the rowing seat).
If you don’t want to mess up your sailboat’s gunwales or decks mounting these pads, you can make a set of removable outriggers similar to those described above for the canoe, except in sort of an ”A” shape (as opposed to an “X”). The mast hole can be used to pin the point end of the “A” and the rowing seat as cross bar.
Make Use of a Utility
As bad a typical utility boat is for rowing, it can be vastly improved with a few simple modifications. The trick is that when rowing, the bottom at the boat at the stern must be out of the water, just an inch or less. This can usually be achieved by removing the outboard and gas tank, adding ballast (sometimes the aforementioned items) to the bow, and mounting oarlock sockets forward, so the boat can be rowed from one of the front seats. Remember, the oarlock sockets have to be mounted so they are vertical when the boat is being rowed in this strange looking stern-up position. Usually the seat support for the middle seat can be used as a foot brace, but if not, one can easily be cobbled to suit your inseam.
Noah’s Ark
You could always make your own rowboat. I know, I know, most of you think the idea is ludicrous, but having personally built a number of boats, (my first when I was 14) I can assure you it is much easier than you think. If you’ve built a deck, a dock, or furniture, you can build a rowboat. There are numerous designs available ranging from modern designs using modern techniques and materials, to yachtyesque lapstrake hulls using exotic woods and clenched nails, to simple old-tyme flatiron skiffs. The latter are some of the simplest to build; the challenge is finding plans, instructions and materials for some of these tried and true designs. I can probably help you in that area as I’ve been collected quite a few boat plans over the years.
Decline of the Rowman Empire
Excuse me while I rant. You wouldn’t expect your outboard to work very well if you substituted the little plastic propeller from a trolling motor. In an emergency, it would move the boat, but not well. Well, that’s analogous to the situation with the oars, oarlocks, and oarlock sockets in most boats. Most oars are too short, heavy, improperly adjusted, and loose. A proper set of oars, oarlocks and oarlock sockets will be better on the worst boat than a lousy set on a racing shell.
Leveraged Takeover
With oars, size matters; they should be long. About 8 feet long is good, though 9 would be better; rowing is all about leverage. Again, it’s relatively easy to make your own, but I suspect most will get them from the hardware store or marina. The problem with these oars is that they’re usually mass-produced by shaping on a lathe. Consequently, the blades end up being too thick. This thickness makes the blade ends (which you have to lift out of the water and move forward with each stroke) too heavy. However, the blades can be lightened by removing some of the wood until it’s about 3/16” at the edges (a sharp plane works best). You’ll have to re-varnish or paint the wood afterward.
If you don’t like the idea of thinning the blades, alternatively you can add counterbalance weights to the handle end, but you’ll then have even more weight to move fore and aft with each stroke.
Keys to Oarlocks
Before I go off into another tirade on oarlocks, I think it’d be helpful to explain some of the mechanics of rowing. When you pull on the oars the intent is not to move a swirling eddies of water back, you want to anchor the oar blades in the water and pry the boat forward. This prying force is transmitted to the boat through the oarlocks and to the seat and hull through you. |
| In order to hold-fast in the water, the blade needs to be vertical. If the top of the blade is angled to the back (of the boat), it will jump out and skitter across the water when you pull the oar. If it’s angled the other way, pulling the oar will cause it to dive way down into the water. Neither reaction is conducive to moving the boat ahead. Even if you managed to get those fixed type oarlocks mounted perfectly square to the oars, unless the boat always sits perfectly level, and the oarlock sockets are mounted perfectly plumb, the blades will not be vertical in the water. You will spend as much energy trying to keep the blades in, or getting them out of, the water than you will moving the boat. |
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The solution is some sort of infinitely adjustable oarlock device. Fortunately, such a device exists: your hands. Rather than use those fixed type oarlocks, you can still get older style, closed loop ones or non-pinned open yoke type oarlocks. These allow the oar to be rotated as needed to be square to the water. It’s a simple matter of adjusting your grip on the handles.
Traditionally, a leather sleeve was fastened around the oar shaft where it passed through the oarlock to protect the oar. Oar leather kits are still available, but they also have cow-friendly plastic versions too and there’s always duct tape.
Time for another analogy. Excluding perhaps those from the prairies, anyone who’s pedaled a two-wheeler knows the advantages of having a choice of gears. Well, another major advantage of these oarlocks is that you can also adjust the pivot point. Rowing into heavy wind or waves? Slide in your oars a little bit to give more leverage. Want to get back quickly before that rain moves in? Extend the oars out to move the boat further with each stroke. |
Socket Wince
Okay, we’ve got suitable oars and a good pair of oarlocks; now we need oarlock sockets. Often modern ones are made out of zinc, aluminum, or even plastic. These are next to useless, as after just a few minutes, the sockets will be worn. If you have these, take them to a machine shop and have bronze bushings inserted to fit your oarlocks. However, it’s probably best to buy a matching set of oarlocks and sockets. As mentioned earlier, these must be mounted vertically, and securely, about 8 to 12 inches aft of the aft end of the rowing seat (the boat’s not yours). Since the oarlocks and sockets are the fulcrum for your levers (oars) the gunwale has to be stiff and strong where they are mounted. Depending on your boat, you may need to brace the gunwale in this area.
Stroke of Genius
A few more words on the mechanics of rowing. Once you get the oar blades square in the water, hold the oar handles with your hands loosely. You just have to keep the blade from rotating, not grip it like it’s a pickle jar you’re trying to open. Your wrists and back should be straight. When rowing the blades (and your hands) should move in the pattern of a rectangle, not a circle or oval. Reach forward, lift your arms and set the blades just below the surface of the water. Lean back and pull the oar handles towards you, straight, then ease the handles towards you with your arms. The important thing is that you use your back first, then your arms, with most of the work being done with your back. Push the oar handles down, just far enough for the blades to clear the water and waves, straighten your arms, then move your back and reach forward.
Most people will struggle for a while with the un-fixed oarlocks and this back then arms rectangular stroke, but I can assure you that after about 15 minutes you’ll forget all about it and it will become natural.
I hope I’ve whet the interest in a couple of you to try your back and arms at rowing. If you have any questions or would like further information, there are a lot of books and people much more qualified than I to advise you, but that’s never stopped me before; don’t hesitate to contact me at 905 278 9957, rob.abbott@sympatico.ca (home), or 705 689 1456 (cottage).
Sometimes, going backwards is the best way to get ahead.