Oar locks

[Scott Galloway]

Here is a question: I recently lost my motor while navigating the harbor channel. I began to dream of adding oarlocks onto my boat to use in emergency situations. Has anyone given any thought to doing this or has anyone actually done the job?

I have found a source of oars made of synthetic materials with detachable blades:
http://www.nrscatalog.com/product_list.asp?deptid=237

An eight-foot oar with blades removed will slip into the cabinet beneath the sink and slide back so that the aft end rests against the bulkhead at the aft end of the cockpit. Easy storage of oars now assured, I am even more eager to build some oarlocks.

Of course one could merely screw oarlocks onto the coaming boards, but that would be inelegant, and add a tripping hazard. I want to build a removable unit that will strap to or clamp down upon the stainless steel winch platform. I have designed a unit to be made of wood, a few one-inch strips of stainless steel, and some bolts and wing nuts. The oarlocks will be mounted on this unit approximately eight inches above the winch platform to allow the oars to clear my lifelines at a steep enough angle to permit the use of eight- foot oars.

Before I begin this project, has anyone else out there installed oarlocks for rowing oars or a single oarlock for a sculling oar? And just how much fun was that?

[Mike Goodwin]

Use one oar mounted in the winch and put a bungy on the tiller ,It works great .
I use to row a 28'ketch like that.
8' is a bit short for the oar , do a 12' that is in 2 pieces with a sleeve that joins them .
Try this , get a 12' 1x2 board , ballance it on the winch top , bring one end inboard to the center of the cockpit , now lower the other end down to the water surface . A much easier angle to row with , now pull it in 4' so you have an 8' oar. The angle now is very steep and will wear you out on a heavy boat. The good news about the heavy boat is, when you get it moving , it doesn't take much to keep it moving , like a stroke every 10 seconds at most .
The longer the oar the more power with less effort.
If you want a one piece oar , stow the oar on the boom or vertical in front of the mast.

[Tony G]

James Baldwin has a link off of his site dedicated to a whole society of enginless sailors. Seems that an oar is a very useful tool to them. I think his site is yachtatom.com or something like that. I'm sure any search engine will take you there. You may find some useful info there. Tony G

[Scott Galloway]

Mike and Tony,

Thanks for the great info. If I understand what you wrote Mike, the tiller a single very long oar will keep a long keel boat going straight if the tiller is secured with a bungee.

Thanks for the lead on the oar site Tony. The URL for James Baldwin's site about his Pearson Triton, "Atom" is: http://www.yachtatom.com/

The Oar Club site is: http://www.oarclub.org/

Their motto is "No I don't need a tow."

There is also a yahoo! engineless sailing newsgroup. I have not checked it out yet.

It looks like some interesting reading on the Oar Club site. This site has information on oars, self-steering and a number of other topics. However, it appears to be a non-text site and does not load well in Netscape. So you might want to use MS Explorer to access it. Also watch out for the infernal pop-up windows.

The site has a bulletin board at:

http://pub22.bravenet.com/forum/show.asp?usernum=1845522818

I guess I better look for some longer oars Mike. You are right about the steep angle on the eight foot oar. It is steep. I tried out the angle using my extendable boat hook with the winch as a base. With an eight foot pole the angle is very steep, but at nine feet it is a bit more reasonable. Certainly, twelve feet would be much preferable if I can find a 12 footer in sections. Actually, a sectional oar could double as dinghy oar with one or more of the sections removed.

Perhaps the Oar Club will have some sources for me. I had thought of vertical storage in front of the mast, but I had not thought of the horizontal storage on the boom.

Personally I would rather store my oars below if possible, but an oar on the boom would be handy.

The NRS Online Catalog: http://www.nrscatalog.com/product_list.asp?deptid=237 has some interesting products, but they appear to be designed for river rafting. The ten foot two part oar with a single one foot extension, or two one foot extensions could do the trick, and still fit below. Am I nuts?

[Tony G]

Nuts? Of course you are. But don't let that stop you.

[Scott Galloway]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Tony. You'll all be laughing when I row my Ariel to Hawaii! ...and in other news, here is an e-mail bulletin that I received from a Triton owner who believes in the cause of the human auxiliary:

"There is an article with all of the info. for mounting oarlocks, selecting length, and stowing the sweeps, as well as manufacturer links in the group files of my yahoo! newsgroup, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/engineless_sailing

Look in the 'tech topics' folder for "sweeps 101""
:D

[Toby]

Scott,

I bought Dave's Commander (280) when he picked up a Triton. The boat came with no engine and two oars. Dave made no modifications to the boat for paddling; he simply wrapped 1/4" line around the oars where they rested on the combing to limit rubbing. He fashioned a loop at the cord's end and draped it over the winches to secure the oar. Seemed to work, but as the loops stretched, the oar control became a bit sloppyl. I always thought the best solution would be to have a freind with a machine shop make an oar lock that dropped into the splined socket on top of the winch. Probably a very expensive answer to a very inexpensive idea.

As far as actually using the oars, they work swell under windless conditions but, as Dave can attest, spell trouble to windward (can you say breakwater?). Dave still wants his oars back and being fat, lazy and 40, I'm inclined to return them (for a small fee) and go with a motor.

[Scott Galloway]

Toby,

A very interesting coincidence: you having Dave's old Commander.

My Ariel, and I assume your Commander, has stainless steel platforms for the jib sheet winches.

The device that I am contemplating will bolt onto this winch platform and present an oarlock at eight-inch height above the platform. This means that the oar will clear the winch. No new holes will be made in either the stainless steel winch platform or in the coaming boards.

By my calculations, this will present an oar to a standing, forward-facing rower at mid chest height. The winch could remain operational during oar operation. I am going to make this device from inexpensive wood and some inexpensive hardware store zinc-plated steel parts. If it works, I hope make a permanent device from fir, or teak and stainless steel. The assembly will bolt on quickly using bolts with wing nuts.

My intent is not to go engineless, but to develop an emergency system that would permit me to enter the harbor, and row to my slip, or perhaps to row away from an anchorage or away from a bad situation where it is not practical to use the sails in the event of a motor failure.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyone out there install oar lock sockets on their Ariel or Commander? My intention is to have a set of oars (sweeps) onboard and ready for use in emergency situations.

I searched the Yahoo Engineless Sailing Forum. I found a number of good ideas there including this photo of oarlocks on a Pearson Renegade's rather large integral winch bases, but haven't found the perfect solution for placing oar locks on an Ariel on that site.

I am curious if anyone else has installed oarlocks on an Ariel or Commander, and if so, where and how the oarlock sockets were installed. Photos would be helpful. It seems to me from my experimentation that installing them as close to the rail as possible would be best to provide better balance for the oars, and that they should be installed in a location close to the jib winches, but not so close as to be in coflict with them. Standing facing forward while rowing seems to be the preferred approach.

[Mike Goodwin]

Haven't done it on an Ariel , but on others. Get the shafts of the locks machined to fit the winch sockets and it couldn't be easier or stronger and no new holes in the boat. BTW, You only need one oar to move a boat like this , but it needs to be long , like 10 to 12' .

[ebb]

Sculling with a single oar sided off the rear of the transom is probably the best way to move a heavy boat like the Ariel. The Chinese invented the yuloh which is a crookt oar that makes it easier to scull with a higher freeboard. A bent oar would tend to be shorter. Sculling would require less width, less effort. less noise and (they say) would net a more manuerverable vessel. Didn't Larry Pardey write a book on the subject? :D

A place to start
www.woodenboat.net.nz/Stories/Sculling/scullone.html
www.simplicityboats.com/yulohpage.html


(Have to trice up the boom, wouldn't you? For either method. But maybe you could scull off the rear deck or a little more forward astraddle the seats over the tiller? Shorter oar too. Be great if this was an added safty feature that would allow one to get out of trouble if the engine died - even with the sails bent on. What you say???)
It would be fantastic to see photos of this on an A/C

Seems to me that Mike's double oar lock location is righton. Higher up and out of the way of other gear would allow the oars to be pushed down and brought in to 'house' them on the deck to get them out of the way - which you'd want to do real quick. And you'd most likely have the oars captured in ring oar locks so they would not pop out at the wrong time - and you could let them dangle as well. However, think the single oar is more shippy, and more appropriate in crowded places. :cool:

[willie]

I installed them, use 11' carlisle sweeps. I put on a lanyard so they don't go away.
I like Mike's idea of installing them in the winches.
Tried to upload a couple pics, this thing says they're already in thread 'exterior wood finishes'. (page 3, #45)
My winch bases are not stock however.
I used the top plate mounts, drilled over sized hole, added epoxy, coated oarlock stem with wax, and inserted. Nice fit.
Topping lift for the boom makes it nice, i have brought her into the slip with a sheet in both hands, main over my head, boom in the way, and trying to row. Learning curve is steep. They do work great on a calm day though. The 11' carlisle's are good for fending off also. Nissan 6hp works best when the wind is up. If it starts. I actually like sailing her in the best. Less to worry about. ;)

[Scott Galloway]

Thanks guys.

I have read the theories, including Mr. Baldwin's sculling write-up for his Triton "Atom", but for an emergency rowing system, I decided on sweeps rather than a sculling oar for my application. Although sweeps are reportedly more tiring to the user, they reportedly can achieve higher speeds and greater thrust for short distance emergency use, which is my intended application. I am not so interested in rowing into the slip as I am about staying off the rocks and away from shallow water. Normally I rely on my Nissan 6 hp, but I experienced a total unanticipated failure of a previous Honda 7.5 in the harbor channel a couple of years ago with no oar or paddle onboard and no wind to speak of at the time.

Ebb, your suggestion about sculling makes me think that it might be a nice idea to add a third oarlock station at the stern to allow sculling in tight quarters. I suppose that one of my 11-foot sweeps might work in a pinch as a sculling oar. I'll have to try that.

Willie, I own a pair of eleven (11) foot Carlisle sweeps. They break down into two sections less than six feet each, with the blade included as part of one section. The blades are also removable. These sturdy oar parts will store easily beneath the cockpit. I found that photo of that oarlock that you posted on the "exterior wood finishes" thread. I have reproduced the relevant part of that photo below.

I made a prototype to test various positions for the oarlocks on my Ariel, and from messing around with my oars using that prototype, I would say:

1.Yes, the boom is pesky if you try to row standing up, but not sitting in the bridge deck facing aft, Of course you can't see where you are going. So standing facing forward with the boom end lifted somewhat by the topping lift would be the way to go, or just try to deal with the boom at its normal height for short distance emergency rowing.

2. I have read various approaches to using the winch handle sockets as oarlock sockets. But, based on my experiments, I would like my oarlocks to be further outboard if possible: Balance and leverage being the operating principles here.

It sure would be nice if Mike's idea of using the winch handle sockets as oar lock sockets would provide an adequate balance point for 11 foot oars on an Ariel given the relatively narrow space (62 inches) between coaming boards. That provides 31 inches (two feet seven inches) of non-overlapping oar shaft inside the oarlock and 101 inches of oar shaft outboard of the oarlock. Too much? I don't know. My experiments with my crude prototype indicate that 40 to 41 inches (three feet four inches to three feet five inches) to be the minimum comfortable (at least for me).

3. Very nicely varnished wooden winch and cleat support boxes like the one featured in the photo below taken by Willie would solve the problem, but my Ariel has small stainless steel winch bases like the one in the second image below, so that leaves me with the problem of locating the oar locks outboard of the coaming boards and at or above the height of the jib winches.

[Scott Galloway]

Below is a photo of the small stainless steel winch base on my Ariel. I am giving some thought to a heavy-duty steel triangle (1.5 inch wide stainless steel bar stock) that could be bolted either permanently or temporarily with wing nuts to the outboard side of the winch bases. I envision the triangle to be ten inches high with a three inch horizontal base (on top) extending outboard about three inches at the approximate height of the top of the winch. One and a half inches of this horizontal "base" would form the base of the triangle and one and a half inches would extend beyond the hypotenuse of the triangle. On this one and a half inch extension, an oarlock socket would be mounted. This would provide a distance of 84 inches between oarlocks, and locate them well outboard of the winches but slightly inboard of the rail at what seems like a convenient height for rowing while standing and/or sitting.

I have no way of knowing whether or not this actually makes any sense unless I drill a few holes in my nice shiny stainless steel winch bases, which for merely experimental purposes, I am loath to do. So, I hope that someone out there has already gone through this already and can offer some helpful suggestions and/or photos of a successful Ariel or Commander oarlock installation. Willie, yours looks great, but the large winch support platform on yoru boat is the key to yoru elegant approach, and I don't have such a platform.

The other alternative that I am considering is to make up a Genoa track mounted oarlock socket, but I am concerned that to obtain the height that I need any device that I might design would place excessive torque on the track.

[ebb]

There was a discussion on this subject in April 2003 (Search: Oarlocks).
Here Scott has more info and Mike explains his one oar / tiller-bungie method of propulsion more fully.

I'm all ears on this subject. And those of us like Tony & me who have their boats disassembled will be able to place oars locks in the best position. At the moment, sitting on the bridgedeck and rowing backwards (with, of course, a couple rearview mirrors that slip over the winches) is out of the question. Think the oars would have to be too long!

Loosing power unexpectedly in a rocky channel with no wind and a current running would be glandular. One oar instantly deployable would certainly be a blessing! Especially if you knew how to use it! I never liked rowing because of the backward position!

From the choices so far, I lean toward one oar. assembled, a stand up position and three oarlocks outboard of all fittings. Maybe with the oarlock permanently ON the oar, so it is just slipped into whatever housing.

A yuloh with its bent shape might stow better on deck. But you can't ROW with that. Think I'll oneday try sculling off the back with a regular 'sweep'.
I wonder if the brits with all their small sailboats and shallow water don't have a readymade winchtop oarlock off the shelf?

[commanderpete]

Had to break out the paddles one night years ago. First the wind died. Then we ran out of gas. Still about 1/2 mile to go. Boat moved along OK in flat water once you get it going. Took a loooong time to get home. Not real convenient leaning over the side with a paddle.

I have thought about a single sculling oar using the flagstaff socket at the stern to hold an oarlock. Could even be sort of an emergency rudder.

Hard to believe you could make much progress against wind, tide or chop, but those Mammasans in Hong Kong do it.

[Bill]

Just a reminder to please search your subject using the search function before starting a new thread. :)

[Robert Lemasters]

Back when I was a lad in Sea Explorer Scouts, ship 19,Pop Vannaman skipper, Delanco, New Jersey we had a double ended steel lifboat that we rowed. As I remember it we had 14' oars, one per rower, eight rowers and a tillerman. The oars were made of ash I believe, and very old, US Navy surrplus from the old Philidelphia Navy Yard. It would take two rowers sitting on a cross cockpit seat close to midship as possible to row one of our boats effectively. It would be a real task rowing against a good tidel flow like that of the Delaware River in full flood.It would also take rowing experience and good co-ordination, but it could be done. Cross currents, wind, tide, waves, strength and endurance of rowers. The narrow beam of our boats would be a plus. :mad:

[mbd]

Break out the whip!

[Scott Galloway]

Hmmm, a 2003 thread. Sorry about that Bill. Thanks for combining the threads. I usually do check. I blew it this time. I found that other thread just last night, and I am embarrased to note that I started that one too. It's easy to become distracted when working on these "non critical" projects. So many projects and so little time.

[ebb]

Edey & Duff, Sakonnet, designed by Joel White
list a bronze winch oarlock for $38 (2004)
www.massachusettsboats.com

So who makes em: Bristol, Spartan?
They'd lock on like a winch handle, for sure.
Weld them up from flea mkt winch handles..?

[Scott Galloway]

Ebb,

I guess you have to buy the $24,950 Sakonett to get the $38.00 bronze winch oarlock. For $15,000, or $23,000 on the same web page, you could have a Stone Horse by Edey and Duff and forget the oar lock. Those are classic little boats by the way. :)

[ebb]

Was hoping wasn't I that someone in the eastern fleet might drop by Edey & Duff and ask about the winchtop oarlocks. Then tell anyone interested here about it.

Figure that a brand new Ariel built today would go for 38 grand. agree? And the oarlocks would still go fer 38 bucks! (We'll see what a Sakonette is worth in 40 years!) In the meantime WE ARE the class plastic classic who may be interested in those locks if somebody is willing to sell em. A whole bunch of sailboats be interested, wouldn't you think?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++++++

Winchtop oarloicks would put the oar(s) at a certain height in relation to the cockpit. Question is would the oars be deployable in that position and comfortable for the rower? Is the 11' oar the correct one for the standing and/or sitting position you guys mention? Would a winchtop position change anything? Perhaps it's the best for standing/pushing?

[Mike Goodwin]

The longer the oar the greater the lever and the lesser the effort needed to move the weight.
Anyway you slice it a 12' oar is needed for a slow easy stroke and I'd be surprised if you see better than 3 knots with one person rowing unless they are an Olympic rower .
When oars get long , they get heavy ( unless you are just rowing a racing scull) heavy oars are need to move a heavy object . When they get to 11' or 12' long or better , you only want one of them to deal with both hands on it .
Single oar, standing , facing forward is the simplest way to go and a shorter oar can be used than if one was sitting and rowing.

[Robert Lemasters]

Mbd, great photo, thats somewhat like it was rowing up and down the Delaware River in Seascouts. My boyhood friends and I also had old heavy oak wooden rowboats that we rowed everyday for hours. Seascouts was forced upon us water rats, as we refered to ourselves, by the Coast Guard and an irate mother and father who thought that we ragga-muffens should have been jailed for grabbing thier son and his two friends from the lawn of thier riverside manson and leaving then on a sandbar.

[ebb]

Would it be possible for Robert to get some photos of the one oar over the side and bungie to the tiller method? Pictures do indeed do the work of a thousand words!

Thanks for pointing out the weight issue - certainly take note of that! Some photos or diagram would demystify it for everybody. Do believe its an important option to be aware of anyway.

Boats with an open base winch pad could maybe carry an oar along a coaming for instant use. ? Others may have theirs held by deck fittings of some sort on the opposite side of the wiskerpole. ?

[Scott Galloway]

Ebb,

My plan is to either purchase a set of those spiffy winch top oar locks that you found on the Edey and Duff Sakonnet, or install a bracket that will bolt on the outside of my stainless steel winch bases to hold an oarlock at the height of but a few inches outboard of the winches so that I can get a 7 foot spread between the oar locks. Mike is right: Long oars are heavy. Trying to balance a set of 11-foot oars on the coaming boards leaves a lot of weight on the outer ends. I have tried it. I hope to be able to use both oars, and perhaps if the balance point is far enough outboard I can do just that. Otherwise I'll follow Mike's experience-based advice and use a single oar.

I also want to install a stern oarlock so that I could do some sculling if possible. I am endeavoring to contact Edey and Duff to see if they will provide a source for their winch top oar locks. After I get all of this stuff together, I will provide photo documentation.

I have taken my Carlisle eleven foot oars out to sea and played with them a bit, and I built some rude prototype oar lock brackets/sockets from scrap wood, but it has been hard to find a free afternoon when the wind was not blowing fifteen knots plus to perform tests. I want some calm water for my initial experiments. Also it is darn hard to photograph yourself rowing an Ariel while you are single-handing. Since it has been blowing out, I have been messing with my self steering gears instead. Yesterday I had a rip-roaring six to seven knot beam reach run among the white caps with a jib to tiller gear. No chance to dip an oar in the water there.

To keep your head spinning with the possibilities, here are a couple of photos of oar lock applications that might work on Ariel or Commander coaming boards, although I cannot speak to the issue of whether the stress on the boards would be excessive. I guess it would depend on the oar length and sea conditions.

The color photo of the Davis Lock is of a commercially available lock that folds down out of the way when not in use. A pair goes for $43.00. About it, the Shaw and Tenney website http://www.shawandtenney.com/marine-hardware.htm says “Used primarily on sailboats these oarlocks lift up in the socket then swing down to hang out of the way inside the boat when not in use. They are available in a #1 size only. Made of Manganese Bronze."

Pretty slick huh?

The black and white plan drawing is a homemade application.

The second color photo is a more expensive Patent Swivel Oar Lock about which Shaw an Tenney says, “Extensively used prior to WWII, these rowlocks are still seen today on many antique boats and canoes. The customer demand for these reproductions has prompted us to make them once again. They are supplied in polished (shown) or burnished Manganese Bronze.”…for price of $159 per pair. This would be an easy mount on a small wooden block or directly on the deck at the stern for sculling.

Also NRS http://www.nrsweb.com makes a rail mount for their oarlocks, and sells them for $69.95 a pair. They mount to a rail using U bolts (sold separately). Perhaps one of these would work on the push pit rail or would that be too high?

I bought my Carlisle oars from NRS. A small photo of that rail mount is also attached. They make two models for 5/8 inch oar lock shafts. I love NRS. I lost one of the bolts that came with my new oar sleeves while transporting my oars to the boat, and they sent me a complete new oar sleeve with lock nut and bolt at no cost to me whatsoever. What service! I think I’ll slap their free sticker on my car.

[Scott Galloway]

It's a bird, It's a plane! No, it's an oarlock/self-steering device never before seen on an Ariel: Oar problem solved, eleven foot Carlisle sweeps with NRS oarlocks shown in stowed position in Nov 05 photo of Augustine. :cool:

[Scott Galloway]

This is a close-up of the device: The block is a Garhauer series 25 block that functions as part of a jib-to-tiller self steering gear, so this little baby has two functions. Under test conditions at sea it performed as designed for both functions.

[ebb]

Scott,
Impressive! Went to the NRS site and now understand that strange to me fluted thingy as a device to raise the oarlocks UP 6" or 8". These are meant to be clamped to a ss rail with a U clamp. Could just be bolted to something flat but the forces on the bolts would be considerable I'd guess.

They catalog a steel extender that has a wider square base plate with a V shaped plate welded on to it that has a tube welded at the top for the oar lock. It looks like it extends not only UP but leans OUT as well.

I can't for the life of me figure out what the oil filter cannister on your winch is - didn't see it in the NRS catalog. I can understand that the something is slipped down over the the winch (or is that a winch-cozy) and has a socket for the lock on top. Is this an invention of yours???

Would need oar lock cannisters sized for each size winch. Right? Perplexed.

Last time we were on this thread I emailed an inquiry to Edey & Duff about the Sakonet winch oar locks. Have just received a reply from Cam Church at Church@aol.com at E & D. Each lock is $55. We are negotiating as we speak, they don't do credit cards. Wrote back saying I was interested but I have no idea how they are attached to the winch.

My assumption is that a winch oar lock would merely lock into the winch handle star socket. Had no idea there was a cover over the winch. There wouild have to be a number of cup sizes - so better to communicate with Cam on just what their w.o.l. is and how the lock is attached to a winch BEFOR sending a check. Pricey for an oarlock.

Another assumption is that it would be 'safer' in terms of not loosing the oars to have circular locks rather than horn locks. Thoghts on this??

Scott, please, what is the mystery cannister over the winch? :D :confused:

[Scott Galloway]

Ebb,

My mystery devices are home made. I designed them from reasonably-priced components available at my local sprinkler supply store. These parts are probably also available from most plumbing supply stores. We are talking four inch ABS pipe and fittings, and some neoprene.

Here is a shot of how they are put together from my new webpage. For more information on these devices, see my brand new (posted today) Pearson Ariel "Augustine" self-steering web page. I'll post more about that page on the self-steering thread soon.

Anyway, the URL for that webpage is: http://www.solopublications.com/sailariq.htm

A quote from that self-steering web page follows:

"The device in photo #103, is made from:

* Shown as "J": One four inch length of four (4) inch ABS pipe
* Also shown as "J": One ABS/SDR coupler for four (4) inch pipe with two hose clamps
* Also shown as "J": One end cap for four (4) inch ABS pipe with hole drilled in center to accommodate an oarlock. (the hole is not necessary unless oar locks are part of your plan.
* Shown as "I": One shim made of 1/8 inch neoprene cut to fit internal diameter of the 4 inch ABS pipe section.
* Shown as "M": Sleeve made of 5/8 inch clear tubing, with bevelled end to facilitate a tight fit into the winch handle slot on the jibsheet winch. (not necessary unless oarlocks are part of your plan)
* Shown in photo #102 as "N": one padeye and fasteners (bolt, two washers and lock nuts). The series 25 block will attach to the padeye. The padeye fasteners will hold the end cap onto the ABS pipe, and could also be used to secure the 1/8 inch thick neoprene shim "I".
* Shown as "K": One series 25 ball bearing block (also pictured elsewhere as block "G", however as "G" this block has an attached snap hook. As "K" it does not)
* Not shown here: A short Dacron line to tether the device to a pad eye or cleat. I used a piece of Dacron cord with a snap hook.This cord is attached to a pad eye used in my jackline system. The pad eye is located just forward of the jibsheet winch on the deck outboard of the coaming board"

[Scott Galloway]

Photo #102 shows an internal view of the device "J". You can see the center hole in the end cap and the the four (4) inch ABS pipe within the coupler. The neoprene shim is not shown in this photo. The jibsheet winches on Ariel #330 are Barient #_. The diameter of the base is four (4) inches, but the diameter of the top of the winch is three and three-quarters (3 3/4) inches, hence the need to recess the ABS pipe in the coupler and also the need for the neoprene shim. If your winches are a different size, you will have to search for an alternative pipe size or thicker shim. The ABS pipe begins just above the first (lowest) pipe clamp on the coupler.

Whether or not you are going to utilize this device as an oar lock for sweeps, you will want to build two of these devices, one for each jibsheet winch. And if you build two of these devices, you will have two tankards from which your crew of two can drink their daily ration of grog. A few rowing blisters and your crew will be screaming for grog.

[Scott Galloway]

By the way, I received the same $55.00 quote for Edey & Duff for their winch mounted oar locks, which they say can be mounted on any winch. I received that quote just this week, after I had already designed and built the devices shown in the above photos. I already had the NRS oarlocks also.

Also, in considering all of this, the height of the oarlocks above the deck is a factor in the design related to your seated or standing position while rowing. In the photo below, I am shown testing my new devices and the oar position at the dock both facing aft while sitting on the bridge deck (top image) and standing while facing forward (bottom image).

The stainless steel oar locks on themselves are built by NRS. The black cylindrical oarlock mounting device that fits around the winches is my design. Actually only the top half of the NRS 11 foot sweeps are shown in the photo. I had an opportunity about three miles out the other night to use my new NRS oars when I was becalmed at dusk for about a half hour before the north wind came up. They functioned well, although I must say that rowing an Ariel is a bit of work. I also have built a prototype of a holder for these same oarlocks that will fit in my flag pole holder on the transom. At the dock, this third "sculling" oarlock seemed to work. I need to test it at sea before I produce it in final form. It is a very simple device.

If you check out my self steering page, you will see the other reason why I built these things in the first place.

[epiphany]

Scott -

Good work! I bet that page took a while to get together - you have lots of information there, probably more than I have seen on any other StT self-steering page. I'll be going back to get a better grasp of it all.

I used StT steering on my other boat, and was quite pleased with how it worked. Lechters book is an invaluable resource, and resides aboard Katie Marie as a permanent part of the "crew". My gear is much simpler than what you have, and I understand several of the improvements you've made. In particular, I like the adjusting vangs - they would seem to provide a smaller, more precise range of adjustment than I was able to achieve with what I have. Your comments on the friction of using a sheet winch as a turning block are spot on. On my other boat, I placed a small block on a loop of line sized to fit over the winch, and it helped quite a bit. Your hard covers offer some advantages over that.

An idea for you, to maybe help out with your thigh bruises. :) How about using 2-sided Velcro, mounted under the cam cleats on the tiller (put one of the cleat mounting screws through the end of the Velcro tape), to hold the coil of excess steering line? Another possibility would be a small bag, maybe with 2 compartments, that would hang under the tiller there and collect the excess line coming out of the cleat. The bag could be removable, and serve as a storage container for some of your SsT gear. Just a thought.

Thanks for gathering and posting the information as you have. I'm sure that many people will benefit from your work. :)

[ebb]

Scott, FANTASTIC!
A quick scan shows I'm going to have to go back to study all those pictures and pages. And when I'm out of 338s bilges and actually sailing I will experiment using your generous info. It is most important. And if s-t-t steering proves itself on the A/Cs it would be so much better than that other ugly piece of gear on the stern.

Good thinking on the tankade devise! It's so fine that the A/C inspires inventions. You know, that's the intake of breath, birth, inspiration, soul - that stuff - that gives life to both skipper and his craft. Wonder why a boat is called 'craft', eh? Augustine lives! Thanks, Capitan.

Recall it was the vikings or the irish who invented round bottom tankards. You couldn't put it down until you'd drained it.

[Scott Galloway]

Ebb,

These tankards are even trickier. You not only can't set them down until you have finished your grog, but you also can't take your thumb out of the oar lock hole in that round bottom, or you'll have grog all over the deck.

Epiphany,

I learned how to avoid those cleats, and now that I have built the steering control box, I'll probably leave the box as built, but your idea of using Velcro to secure line ends is a supremely elegant idea. Thanks. Mayhaps I wil build a second steerign control box that way and try it out.

Anyway this self-steering stuff is best left for the self steering forum, so I shall post the url for the self steering page there now, and remain on track here related to the oarlocks. Suffice it to say that my tankard devices, when inverted, work great for oarlock mounts.

[ebb]

What did the inebriate say when he saw his finger in the bottom of his mug? :eek:

[Scott Galloway]

Humm, I am afraid to ask.

[Scott Galloway]

I have posted some photos and a description of my oarlock system and a few other interesting oarlock mounts on web page:

http://www.solopublications.com/sailario.htm

You will also find some links to oar resources on that page.

[ebb]

Scott,
A fantstic addition to your site.
Exactly the kind of full bore treatment needed for this unusual but very useful subject. Good chance 338 will steal your your innovative solution. Impressive full circle essay on the subject - maybe Good Ole Boat would be interested!

I've tried to engage Edey $ Duff on their winch oar locks but it has been distinctly unsuccessful. It could be a sign to go with everyday locks anyway. Any oar lock one fancies.

Thanks for the resource and your resourcefullness.
And Augustine looks prettier than ever!

When I was surfing around on the subject, I found a site with pictures on how to leather the locks. Was, briefly, a single piece of shaped latigo with a hole for the shaft to go thru and just enough to wrap the horns with baseball stiching on the outside. Looked very Brion Toss!

[Scott Galloway]

Ebb,

Wrapping the horns on the oar locks with leather seems like a good idea. I have oar rights on my oars, but the bronze cast oarlocks are a bit rough, and they do scrape the plastic oar rights. Thanks for the inspiration. I'll have to mess around with that idea a bit.

Also I finally posted the text and some photos for my structural retrofit page at: http://www.solopublications.com/sailarir.htm

[ebb]

This pattern are hefty (5/8" shank) deep and wide horned, white water oar locks.
The horns inside are wide and have a flat radius to 'spread the point load' on the oar. They are deeper, oval shaped and look like they'd look right on a larger boat like the A/C than rowboat transplants. Course this is conjecture from a photo.

Looks like one on the stern would make a good sculling lock, because its deeper design would hold the oar in place better at steeper angles. Looks like.

*Sawyer Cobra Scull Lock"

If you favor open locks over round ones these might work better because of the more extreme rowing or sculling angles that are necessary off the winch or stern.

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/oarlocks/saw-olcm/index.htm

[Scott Galloway]

Ebb,

NRS carries a similar oarlock, also called a cobra lock. It is pictured on page:

http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=1401&deptid=981

I considered this oar lock, but opted to purchase the more traditional open oarlock, the "NRS Superston Open Oarlock", which NRS describes as "the finest whitewater open oarlock available! Made of Superston™, a proprietary manganese, and the strongest bronze alloy of its kind. Superston's composition assures unmatchable strength and remarkable corrosion resistance under severe conditions." This lock is pictured on my oar page http://www.solopublications.com/sailario.htm .

I liked the corrosion resistence under severe conditions part of the above quote.

But the cobra oar lock does look interesting. I have just never seen one on a ocean going boat, and this is not after all a white water application. The marine environment is a high corrosion environment, so those were my thought before I made my decision to buy the Superstron lock.

If you decide to buy a set of Cobra locks, I would be interested in knowing how you like them. price for standard pair = $50.00. Price of the NRS Superston Open Oarlock is the same.

NRS says about this Sawyer Cobra oarlock:

"This is the oar lock you've been waiting for. The cobra's wide horns have greater load area for much less stress on the oar-lock horns and increased durability. The elongated, oval opening allows for an additional 10-15 degrees of vertical range while keeping your oars snug in the locks. Made of a specially formulated bronze alloy for superior strength and proven by professionals throughout the world. Deluxe models are threaded with a lock-nut keeper to reduce play."

Please find below a photo of the Sawyer cobra lock from the NRS page.