Oar maintenance, sculling oars, and such

[wikakaru]

Thanks for all the advice, John. I don't think I have reached the stage of total commitment yet. I'm still toying with the possibility that my store-bought 9-foot oar will be sufficient, if not ideal.

In May of this year I did a test-fit with a piece of PVC pipe to see how long a sculling oar I need. Here's a photo that shows the setup:

DSC_8252 Testing oar length PVC pipe (1 foot tape marks).jpg

Each mark of blue masking tape is 1 foot apart. The total length of the shaft from my right hand to the waterline is 11 feet. Add some for the oar blade--maybe two feet minimum? This is the photo I sent to the oar manufacturer and they said 14-1/2 feet total. So 13 to 14-1/2 feet is in the right ballpark.

In the photo above am standing about a foot and a half forward of the aft end of the cockpit so I have room for my feet without hitting the rudder post, and so I can steer with the tiller using my legs if desired. I think this is the position I would like to be in for sculling.

I had Tim Lackey mount an oar lock on the taffrail of the boat last year. It is just standard rowing hardware, not an extra-large custom casting, but it is there. If necessary it could be modified with a larger fitting, but until I'm convinced it is insufficient for the job I will keep it as is.

I have been able to make a 9-foot store-bought oar work by standing all the way aft in the cockpit, facing aft, and pushing the oar side-to-side. Here's a photo of me with the 9-foot oar sculling that way:

IMG_1976a.JPG

There are several problems with this solution: it uses my arms more than my body and I'm sure it is more tiring than the proper stance; I can't see where the boat is going; I can't steer with the tiller (though I'm not sure that matters because I can steer by favoring sculling strokes in one direction or another). But it does let me move the boat at about 1.5 knots. If my wife is aboard to steer and keep a lookout it's OK, but I will never be able to scull singlehanded for more than a minute or two this way because I can't see forward to maintain my course.

On the other hand, the only time I really need to be able to scull is on a daysail if the wind dies and I'm not towing the dinghy. When we go on our little multi-day cruises we tow the dinghy, and it works just fine as a tow boat. Last year I towed Arietta for several hours, rowing at a good 2 knots until the wind filled back in. So I'm happy with that solution.

IMG_7632.JPG

I have also been toying with the idea of fabricating some fittings to turn the winch sockets into oarlocks so I can row Arietta with two oars and not have to scull or launch the dinghy. The winches are ideally located for me to sit on the bridge deck facing aft and row. The drawbacks are that this doubles the cost of oars I need compared to sculling, and I also have to figure out where on a 22 foot boat to stow not just one but two oars long enough for the job.

So it appears that I am still in the pre-commitment stage, much as you were when deciding whether or not to install an engine on Far Reach. Right now I don't like any of the options enough to be gung-ho about pursuing a course of action, I'm just thinking through ideas and gathering information that may help me decide my eventual course of action.

Right now I have only invested $83 in a 9-foot store-bought oar. If I could find a 13-foot store-bought oar for around $120, I'd be set, but I haven't been able to find anything like that. Over 9 feet the prices seem to go crazy. $700 for a custom oar is a deal-breaker, and building my own oar is a huge commitment in time and tools that I'm reluctant to make. I don't really have an "off season"; in the summer I'm sailing every day in Maine, and in the winter I'm sailing every day in Florida. I tend to resent anything that takes me away from sailing, and I think building an oar from scratch would be like that. I'd be thinking, "why am I here mucking about in a pile of sawdust when I could be sailing?"

If anyone on the Cape Dory board has any suggestions on where I can get a cheap, long, flat-bladed oar that will work well for sculling, please let me know. (I have found longer oars for river rafting that are not as expensive as the custom spruce oar I got a quote for, but they all have molded plastic blades that don't look like they would work well for sculling.) Or other suggestions of ways to propel the boat with human power that don't require major expense or modification to the boat would be nice, too. Please don't suggest, "Use the outboard".

Smooth sailing (and rowing, and sculling),

Jim

[John Stone]

Thanks for all the advice, John. I don't think I have reached the stage of total commitment yet. I'm still toying with the possibility that my store-bought 9-foot oar will be sufficient, if not ideal.

In May of this year I did a test-fit with a piece of PVC pipe to see how long a sculling oar I need. Here's a photo that shows the setup:

DSC_8252 Testing oar length PVC pipe (1 foot tape marks).jpg

Each mark of blue masking tape is 1 foot apart. The total length of the shaft from my right hand to the waterline is 11 feet. Add some for the oar blade--maybe two feet minimum? This is the photo I sent to the oar manufacturer and they said 14-1/2 feet total. So 13 to 14-1/2 feet is in the right ballpark.

In the photo above am standing about a foot and a half forward of the aft end of the cockpit so I have room for my feet without hitting the rudder post, and so I can steer with the tiller using my legs if desired. I think this is the position I would like to be in for sculling.

I had Tim Lackey mount an oar lock on the taffrail of the boat last year. It is just standard rowing hardware, not an extra-large custom casting, but it is there. If necessary it could be modified with a larger fitting, but until I'm convinced it is insufficient for the job I will keep it as is.

I have been able to make a 9-foot store-bought oar work by standing all the way aft in the cockpit, facing aft, and pushing the oar side-to-side. Here's a photo of me with the 9-foot oar sculling that way:

IMG_1976a.JPG

There are several problems with this solution: it uses my arms more than my body and I'm sure it is more tiring than the proper stance; I can't see where the boat is going; I can't steer with the tiller (though I'm not sure that matters because I can steer by favoring sculling strokes in one direction or another). But it does let me move the boat at about 1.5 knots. If my wife is aboard to steer and keep a lookout it's OK, but I will never be able to scull singlehanded for more than a minute or two this way because I can't see forward to maintain my course.

On the other hand, the only time I really need to be able to scull is on a daysail if the wind dies and I'm not towing the dinghy. When we go on our little multi-day cruises we tow the dinghy, and it works just fine as a tow boat. Last year I towed Arietta for several hours, rowing at a good 2 knots until the wind filled back in. So I'm happy with that solution.

IMG_7632.JPG

I have also been toying with the idea of fabricating some fittings to turn the winch sockets into oarlocks so I can row Arietta with two oars and not have to scull or launch the dinghy. The winches are ideally located for me to sit on the bridge deck facing aft and row. The drawbacks are that this doubles the cost of oars I need compared to sculling, and I also have to figure out where on a 22 foot boat to stow not just one but two oars long enough for the job.

So it appears that I am still in the pre-commitment stage, much as you were when deciding whether or not to install an engine on Far Reach. Right now I don't like any of the options enough to be gung-ho about pursuing a course of action, I'm just thinking through ideas and gathering information that may help me decide my eventual course of action.

Right now I have only invested $83 in a 9-foot store-bought oar. If I could find a 13-foot store-bought oar for around $120, I'd be set, but I haven't been able to find anything like that. Over 9 feet the prices seem to go crazy. $700 for a custom oar is a deal-breaker, and building my own oar is a huge commitment in time and tools that I'm reluctant to make. I don't really have an "off season"; in the summer I'm sailing every day in Maine, and in the winter I'm sailing every day in Florida. I tend to resent anything that takes me away from sailing, and I think building an oar from scratch would be like that. I'd be thinking, "why am I here mucking about in a pile of sawdust when I could be sailing?"

If anyone on the Cape Dory board has any suggestions on where I can get a cheap, long, flat-bladed oar that will work well for sculling, please let me know. (I have found longer oars for river rafting that are not as expensive as the custom spruce oar I got a quote for, but they all have molded plastic blades that don't look like they would work well for sculling.) Or other suggestions of ways to propel the boat with human power that don't require major expense or modification to the boat would be nice, too. Please don't suggest, "Use the outboard".

Smooth sailing (and rowing, and sculling),

Jim

Beautiful boat.

Go to a nautical consignment shop and look for a "life boat Oar". They are about 12-14' long. Just what you need.

Also the angle in top photo is too shallow. It looks to be about 30° from parallel to the water and you want 40°. That will make your oar shorter. A Yulo is curved for that purpose. So if the oar has a little droop perpendicular to the blade so much the better. You also need to rig an "oriental lanyard". The lanyard will induce the critical twisting movement of the oar blade which is essential. It'll also save your wrist and maintain the oar at the correct angle. You'll want about close to 3' of blade in the water. Maybe a little less.

I'll add more later. Gotta go for now.

[Ben Miller]

Barkley Sound makes inexpensive (compared to their shockingly expensive alternatives) Sitka spruce oars. They don't offer a 13' option on their website but they might be willing to put one together.

If you're a patient person, you can do a lot of woodworking with a small assortment of hand tools. A few hand planes (often available cheap on Craigslist or the right garage sales) and some hand saws let you do just about anything the guy with a big shop can do, just a little slower. They also take up less room, make a lot less noise, and produce pleasantly chunky shavings and sawdust, rather than throwing dust into the air. And they're highly unlikely to kill or maim you. They also take a little more skill to operate, and you have to know (or learn) how to sharpen them well. It's a whole new rabbit hole to go down--not unlike old boats.

[wikakaru]

Go to a nautical consignment shop and look for a "life boat Oar". They are about 12-14' long. Just what you need.

What a great suggestion! A quick search on "life boat oar" yielded this place with over a hundred old life boat oars from 12 to 15 feet: https://www.piecesofship.com/pageShipSa ... sOars.html. Too bad it's in Galveston, Texas instead of somewhere near me. I will have to start checking this kind of place out. I'm no stranger to used gear places like Bacon's in Annapolis, but I usually stay away from "nautical antiques" shops. Maybe I can find a shop somewhere on the drive between Maine and Florida and pick up an oar cheap. If anyone knows of a specific shop anywhere between Maine and Florida that they've seen old lifeboat oars in, I'd appreciate the heads up!

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[wikakaru]

Also the angle in top photo is too shallow. It looks to be about 30° from parallel to the water and you want 40°. That will make your oar shorter. A Yulo is curved for that purpose. So if the oar has a little droop perpendicular to the blade so much the better. You also need to rig an "oriental lanyard". The lanyard will induce the critical twisting movement of the oar blade which is essential. It'll also save your wrist and maintain the oar at the correct angle. You'll want about close to 3' of blade in the water. Maybe a little less.

I'll add more later. Gotta go for now.

It's hard to stand farther aft to get that angle down unless I face aft. The boat has a poop deck that doesn't let me stand all the way aft, and then there is the rudder shaft at the aft end of the sole; if I stand on the seat I will be too high. I may be able to just hold the forward end of the oar higher if I can get a longer oar.

I wonder if the oar lock should be tilted aft 30-40 degrees so it binds less?

--Jim

[John Stone]

I stand on the aft end of the seat. I made my oarlock so it can tilt. And it's locked in that position though it still rotates side to side. I'll send you a photo of mine.

Remember sculling works by the twisting of the oar. It creates a low pressure on the forward side of the blade and literally pulls the boat forward. So a steeper angle is better.

[wikakaru]

There's a photo on your blog: https://farreachvoyages.files.wordpress ... 08/014.jpg
I didn't realize until now that your sculling oarlock has a horizontal pin that allows it to pivot up and down as well as side to side. That would definitely solve the problem of the oar binding in the oarlock. Who fabricated the oarlock for you? I kind of like my horned oarlock because I can just drop the oar in the lock from the top instead of having to run the oar all the way aft and then pull it forward through the circular hole. Unfortunately, I don't think the pivoting design would work with a horned oarlock. So it's either switch to a round pivoting oarlock and keep it attached to the oar, or tilt the horned oarlock aft about 40 degrees.

It's strange how even simple solutions like an oar require so much thought.

--Jim

[John Stone]

There's a photo on your blog: https://farreachvoyages.files.wordpress ... 08/014.jpg
I didn't realize until now that your sculling oarlock has a horizontal pin that allows it to pivot up and down as well as side to side. That would definitely solve the problem of the oar binding in the oarlock. Who fabricated the oarlock for you? I kind of like my horned oarlock because I can just drop the oar in the lock from the top instead of having to run the oar all the way aft and then pull it forward through the circular hole. Unfortunately, I don't think the pivoting design would work with a horned oarlock. So it's either switch to a round pivoting oarlock and keep it attached to the oar, or tilt the horned oarlock aft about 40 degrees.

It's strange how even simple solutions like an oar require so much thought.

--Jim

I think the horned oarlock is fine as long as it works. Whatever works efficiently is a good solution. I have a picture somewhere of a 40,000 lb pilot cutter being sculled with an oar and a horned oarlock. They have a lanyard over the top to keep it from rising out of the oarlock.

Once you start sculling you need very little to capture the oar as there is tremendous forward pressure being applied by the loom to the oarlock. When you stop though the oar can float up out of the oarlock if you are not attentive. When you are highly skilled (I am not) you can scull the boat backward by reversing the twisting motion. But the oar would have to be captured in the oarlock.

My oar lock was cast from the pattern Larry Pardey made for Taleisin. Sheri at Mystic River Foundry, up your way, holds all of the Pardey patterns. It's a big oar lock and I think too big for the loom diameter you would probably use for your boat. Anyway, my buddy welded the tab with the hole in it for the lanyard that extends down the length of the loom. That lanyard is important as it keeps the oar at the right position in the oarlock and if you have to let go the oar it keeps it from slipping away. You can just tie the lanyard around the base of the oarlock. I just refined mine over time.

The other lanyard is the oriental lanyard that runs down to a pad eye in the deck.

I changed the base fitting for my oarlock a couple years ago. Much stronger. There is a link on our .net site showing how I made it. I like it better than the original.

This is a simple system but there are small important components essential to making it work efficiently and effectively. What happens sometimes is people think oh I'll just lash something together and then when it doesn't work right they say it's crap. Sculling a boat is highly evolved though it's simple the evolution to make it work right can't be ignored. You need all the components to make it work in a way you will be happy with. Like most things in life there are no shortcuts when a proper solution is the goal.

I scull our dinghy all the time but the system is so small you need almost nothing to make it work--no lanyards and just a notch in the transom. Once the oar gets big and the boat heavy the forces at play are significant and the two lanyards and a proper oarlock are essential for success.

I attached a couple pictures. One shows the oarlock, one the base, and the other the two lanyards.

[John Stone]

Another picture.

[wikakaru]

Somehow in my reading on the subject I completely missed the lanyard that keeps the oar from sliding away from the oarlock. The oar does tend to want to float up if I pause sculling once I have some way on, but it's not a problem as long as I remember that it happens.

I know about the so-called "Chinese lanyard" that keeps the oar handle down and helps pivot the blade to the proper angle. By the way, the oar manufacturer I corresponded with said this: "We do not recommend any lanyard or yuloh. Not needed with a figure 8 falling leaf stroke and never put a hole in the oar." I tried one with my first generation sculling experiment that used a Duckworks Scullmatix (https://duckworks.com/scullmatix/) but I found the whole setup (Scullmatix + lanyard) ineffective. I can't really run a lanyard with the 9-foot oar and aft-facing sculling position, but maybe it will be possible if I locate a longer lifeboat oar and am able to scull sideways. Here's a photo of my fiddling with the Scullmatix:

DSC_8839.JPG

Thanks for all the advice! Keep it coming! It seems there are very few people who successfully scull full-keeled sailboats like ours.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

Somehow in my reading on the subject I completely missed the lanyard that keeps the oar from sliding away from the oarlock. The oar does tend to want to float up if I pause sculling once I have some way on, but it's not a problem as long as I remember that it happens.

I know about the so-called "Chinese lanyard" that keeps the oar handle down and helps pivot the blade to the proper angle. By the way, the oar manufacturer I corresponded with said this: "We do not recommend any lanyard or yuloh. Not needed with a figure 8 falling leaf stroke and never put a hole in the oar." I tried one with my first generation sculling experiment that used a Duckworks Scullmatix (https://duckworks.com/scullmatix/) but I found the whole setup (Scullmatix + lanyard) ineffective. I can't really run a lanyard with the 9-foot oar and aft-facing sculling position, but maybe it will be possible if I locate a longer lifeboat oar and am able to scull sideways. Here's a photo of my fiddling with the Scullmatix:

DSC_8839.JPG

Thanks for all the advice! Keep it coming! It seems there are very few people who successfully scull full-keeled sailboats like ours.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

Cool photo. You are such a skilled photographer.

Well, I disagree with Duckworks. They don't skull big heavy full keel boats. If they did they would recognize such a statement as nonsense. To be fair most of their boats are light weight skiffs. And I would agree with their advice for such boats. As mentioned I can scull our 9' hard dinghy without lanyards or an oar lock.

What I learned about sculling came almost entirely from Larry Pardey. And I based my sculling setup on Taleisin's, which interestingly has nearly the exact specifications as the Far Reach--28' waterline (fully loaded). 40' LOS. 10' 8" beam. 6,000 lead ballast. 16,000 displacement. I know you know this but I'll mention for those that may not. The Pardey's sculled their two heavy displacement boats for 45 years gaining a ton of experience. Larry was adamant with me about the value of the oriental lanyard. Can I scull my boat without one? Yes, but it would be exhausting trying to twist and hold a nearly 4' long blade angled to the water and trying to keep the handle down with the force of the water driving the handle up. I would probably destroy the soft tissue in my wrist and forearms in minutes. The uninitiated don't appreciate the forces at play. Water is about 800 X more dense than air. Even though I made a beautiful 12:1 scarf in the loom and glued it with resorcinol, Larry told me to add a Kevlar sleeve over it which I did. Once I started sculling I was stunned by the bending of the loom during the strokes.

Very few people have real word sculling experience on a heavy boat. In Asia they are using Ro's and Yulohs which are a more robust and sophisticated oar. They all use lanyards by the way. Before I built my oar I reached out to Douglass Brooks, who is an expert on Asian/Japanese wooden boats and sculling oars. He has written many articles for WoodenBoat Magazine on these topics. We discussed the idea the he would design and I would build a Ro for the FR. Ultimately, I decided against it because the oar was too big, would have to be bolted together and stowed in two parts, and would not look right on the boat. A clash of designs if you will.

A straight loomed western style lifeboat oar is not as efficient as an Asian style sculling oar. But, as Larry Pardey and other have proved, it's good enough. And it's lighter, smaller, less difficult to build, and more easy to stow than an Asian style oar.

There is a video out there of Carol Hassee sculling her Scandinavian folk boat into a marina. I can't remember if she uses a lanyard or not. There is also a cool video of Bob and Cathy Groves sculling their 34' Jay Benford junk rigged ketch in Nova Scotia. Mr. Google can find it quickly. Sadly Bob lost Easy Go about 10 years ago sailing to Bermuda.

I'm sure you can make this work and since your boat is light enough I bet the whole thing can be quite manageable. I'm interested to see what you decide and how it plays out.

[wikakaru]

I've seen the video of Carol Hasse before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diMB6Ix9jTQ. She used a bent-oar yuloh with lanyard on her 25-foot Folkboat Lorraine.

I couldn't find the video of Bob and Cathy Groves sculling Easy Go. Their blog is here (http://sveasygo.blogspot.com/2011/04/easy-go-yuloh.html) but the photo/video content appears to have been posted on Google+, which is now defunct. The text on their web site indicates they used a bent yuloh.

Here are a few more I have seen:

Kevin Boothby's Southern Cross 31 Ruth Avery (YouTube channel How To Sail Oceans) has a straight oar with lanyard:
https://youtu.be/6LDltfO3fI8?t=339

Herb and Maddie Benavent's Alberg 30 Windpuff (YouTube channel Rigging Doctor) has a straight oar that appears to be home-made. There looks to be a non-fixed lanyard of sorts with an eye splice, but there doesn't appear to be any tension on it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5FnF9upkKY&t=38s

And of course, for others on the forum who haven't seen your own video on sculling your Cape Dory 36 Far Reach, here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZS9yw6UH6I

Just a bit of a correction: it wasn't Duckworks who told me not to use a lanyard, it was the oar manufacturer (who I am not naming) who gave me the quote on the expensive custom 14-1/2 foot oar. I suspect they don't want to be liable if their expensive custom oars fail if people drill them for lanyards. I wonder if there is a secure lashing that could be used to affix the lanyard instead of drilling a hole. The trick is finding a lashing that wouldn't twist under load. I suppose this is academic because I'm not spending that kind of money on a custom oar, but if I found a lifeboat oar and the shaft wasn't that thick, I'd have the same problem.

I think you are right that the Duckworks Scullmatix is intended for smaller boats. Most of the videos I found are of it being used on dinghies. The largest boat I could find the Scullmatix used on was Ben Fuller's 17-foot double-ended rowboat Ran Tan. Here's that video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcjj9bYH_Gg
I really didn't like the way he had the stainless Scullmatix scraping on the bronze oarlock. Scrape, grind, scrape, grind.

I went back and re-read the section in Pardey's The Self Sufficient Sailor on sculling. I don't have my own copy, so I read it on Google Books.
(https://www.google.com/books/edition/Se ... frontcover)
I should have paid more attention to this and I'd have saved myself some trouble.
* In the section about test-fitting the oarlock location it says the test oarlock should be angled aft at the same angle the transom is angled, or if the transom isn't angled, 15 degrees aft. I suppose that is also the case with the final fixed oarlock if you aren't using one with a horizontal-axis pivot.
* It also says (contrary to the instruction in the oar leather kit I purchased) that the oar leather seam should be facing up when sculling, that is, aligned with the flat part of the blade, not aligned with the edge of the blade.
* It also mentions that secondhand lifeboat oars may be available.
* It says the Oriental lanyard should be attached about half-way between the handle and the oarlock. I think I had mine on the Scullmatix setup much farther forward than this, simply because there was a convenient safety harness padeye at that location and I didn't want to drill any holes in Tim Lackey's beautiful brand-new paint job. I wonder if I gave the Scullmatix another try with a different lanyard location if it would help.

I think the process of getting a sculling oar to work is so difficult simply because so few people do it and the right equipment isn't available off-the-shelf. You have to be willing to invest a lot of time and effort to get a setup that works well for each individual boat. I'm sure I will get there eventually.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[John Stone]

Can't add much to your excellent summary. I think it's OK and maybe necessary to move the Oriental lanyard up the loom a bit towards the handle. I think near vertical orientation is a little better and that's what Larry did on Taleisin which he built after they wrote The Self Sufficient Sailor. But, it's probably not essential. Might not make any difference at all. Sometimes it's a compromise as you need to find a place for the fitting. Don't let Tim's lovely work deter you from installing the hardware you need to keep a simple boat simple.

You might consider renaming the subject of this post. Lots of good info on sculling.

I'd volunteer to make the oar for you (it would be fun) but I'll be gone voyaging for six months and won't be back till June and then we are off overlanding out west I think.

[wikakaru]

Can't add much to your excellent summary. I think it's OK and maybe necessary to move the Oriental lanyard up the loom a bit towards the handle. I think near vertical orientation is a little better and that's what Larry did on Taleisin which he built after they wrote The Self Sufficient Sailor. But, it's probably not essential. Might not make any difference at all. Sometimes it's a compromise as you need to find a place for the fitting. Don't let Tim's lovely work deter you from installing the hardware you need to keep a simple boat simple.

You might consider renaming the subject of this post. Lots of good info on sculling.

I'd volunteer to make the oar for you (it would be fun) but I'll be gone voyaging for six months and won't be back till June and then we are off overlanding out west I think.

Thanks for the input, John! It would be interesting to play around with how lanyard location affects sculling efficiency. It would definitely require some kind of lashing or other temporary setup rather than drilling a bunch of different holes in the oar. There was no point in drilling any holes in the deck for the lanyard tie-down because I wasn't certain the setup with the Scullmatix would work. Only after I get everything else worked out (oar type, oar length, oarlock tilt angle, sculling position, etc), will it be time to think about putting holes in the boat for a lanyard.

I hope I'm able to find a used lifeboat oar that works for me and that I won't need either of us to build an oar!

So does this mean you won't make it to Maine next year either?

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[wikakaru]

For what it's worth, I searched for images of traditional Asian sculling setups, and it appears the lanyard is typically mounted well forward of the oar pivot location.

Here's a nice short video that shows it pretty well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX8MFCfGPnM

--Jim