Lighter oar locks?

[Bryan Rolfe]

I bought some bronze oar locks for the Spindrift 10 I'm building, but can't help but notice their weight. Given the dinghy will be our tender, that we'll frequently be lifting on and off the deck, and that it's fairly heavy already, I'm really trying to avoid adding extra weight if possible. 

Is there a better/lighter alternative than bronze oar locks? Maybe aluminum? Composite?

[Captain Tim]

Look up Allen Brothers Rowlock Sockets and Rowlocks.

I understand thinking about weight, I tell my wife to watch hers all the time. Not the smartest thing a man can do.

[Don Silsbe]

What I don’t like about the traditional locks is how they mark up the varnish.  And you need to grease the leathers, which leaves a black goo on them from the bronze.  I’ve switched to Gaco oar locks, which are sold through Duckworks. https://duckworks.com/10mm-gaco-oarlock-sets/ They also have the advantage of having a somewhat square opening.  If you make your own oars, you can leave flats on them, to aid in alignment during feathering.  I have this sort of device on my exercising skiff, and it is awesome.  The oarlocks on my skiff are not the Gacos, but from Concept 2.  Those have bolt-on pins, not suitable for sailboats.

 

[Graham]

You are doing a nice job on your Spindrift.

 

I decided to weigh a couple of oarlocks that were handy. The bronze oarlocks are 2 1/4" which we usually use on a Spindrift and the black ones are the Gaco that Don recommends. I have never used the Allen all plastic rowrlocks even though I have had some laying around.

 

The Gaco look well made, has almost no friction and quiet. Time will how long they last. I bought them because my left arm has lost a lot of strength and aches after a hundred yards rowing a Catspaw. The ache comes from having to grip the left oar harder proportionally than my right hand to get the blades to strike the water at the right angle. On the Gaco the oar bears against the pivot post on the pull stroke so I built up a flat surface on the oar out of thickened epoxy to what I thought was about the right angle. I have not really tried it out yet but Alan's mom Dawn used them a lot on Carlita in the last EC and said that they worked ok.

 

If the only reason to change was to save 3.6 ounces probably would not.

 

[Don Silsbe]

I’m sipping my morning coffee, and thinking outside the box a little.  When I was at the Mystic Seaport Maritime Museum, I rowed several skiffs at the small boat dock.  They had a variety of oarlocks on them, which expanded my thinking on the subject.  Specifically, some used thole pins instead of oarlocks.  All you really need is a pin to resist your forward pull, and maybe something to keep the oar near the pin on the return stroke.  The latter can either be another pin or a loop of cord as shown in this sketch.

It worked surprisingly well.  
 

The pins could/should be removable, at least on a Spindrift.  The pins below are expensive.  

If you have a machinist friend, (s)he could turn you out a pair from brass, bronze, or stainless.  To try out the concept, you could use some long bolts with a nylock stopper nut about 2” up from the bottom.  Long term, the bolt’s threads would gall up the inside of the hole.  A hardwood dowel might also work.  As I recall, the ((fixed) pins on the skiff at Mystic were made of wood.  Maybe that’s the cheapest way to try it out.

[Hirilonde]

Thole pins have been used for ages.  Some boats had 2, creating a notch.  Some used just one forward of the oar to pull against.  And some used a line to attach to the thole pin.

Weight is an issue I take seriously for all my boats.  I have never glassed a hull or any part of one 'cept the fillets. But I don't worry about rowlock weight.

[Don Silsbe]

@Hirilonde  I see your point.  My comments were based on when I was using ring oarlocks on my rowing skiff, before I went to the 9.5’ sculls.  When trailering, the ring oarlocks would slide all over the place, banging up paint.  Furthermore, I would grease my leathers before each row.  This would transfer to the oarlocks, leaving a black residue in weird places.  The Gaco locks don’t require lubrication.  

The thole pin comments were to give Bryan all the options.  Since that option is a no-lock option, it is the lowest weight and simplest of all. 

 

I guess it all depends on how often you think you’ll need to use the oars.  If they are used infrequently, then maybe thole pins are the way to go.  In fact, I’m thinking about trying them on my Core Sound 17.  My sails are my primary means of propulsion.  My Suzuki 2.5 is my second means.  The oars are #3.  As such, maybe the thole pins are appropriate.  I plan to test this theory next year.